Hasards de route

Romantic comedy movies are definitely the most fertile genre for "bellow from average" movies and source of frustration for viewers. This one is a perfect example of this and got a place in my "top ten worst movies".

History is far from creative and jokes are weak. I found no reason for a single laugh during all the movie! Characters are plain and the performance of the actors and just good. History develops slowly, it's tedious and foreseeable. Ending is also foreseeable and sugar-coated.

This is one that movies you watch in a rainy Saturday afternoon when you have nothing better to watch in my humble opinion.

Eager to score points with his boss (Rutger Hauer), law intern Rick Robinson (Ben Gourley) - who hails from Kansas and looks for all the world like Clark Kent - agrees to drive the old man's free-spirited niece, Michelle (Mila Kunis), from Savannah to L.A., and still make it back to Miami in time to take his bar exam. But Michelle has other plans in mind, and she's not about to make it easy for the uptight, highly regimented young man - whom she believes needs to learn how to let his freak flag fly and just enjoy life - to complete his mission.

Though the opposites-attract, road-trip-from-hell premise is far from original, "Moving McAllister" has enough charm, wit and affability to keep it just this side of entertaining. The performances are winning (with Jon Heder particularly effective as a spacey, zonked-out hitchhiker the couple picks up on their way), and writer Gourley and director Andrew Black have provided a series of loopy dream sequences that help lift the movie out of its picaresque rut. Some of the detours are more enjoyable than others, and the ending lacks credibility and conviction, but the lighthearted tone makes up for most of the movie's deficiencies and shortcomings.

This movie was made because the concept translates well into a two sentence summary that can be used to lure investors. That is, the premise is interesting and sellable. I mean, I rented it based on the synopsis. The problem is there is nothing beyond the initial concept. There is no coherent plot, no fully fledged characters, no real comedy, no interesting scenery, no surprises, and no good performances (except Jon Herder, he does something with very little). It's as if the people who green lit this thing never read the script but only the synopsis. And if there were enough people like me, it may even have made money.

To the prospective viewer: don't waste your time, there is nothing funny or interesting to see here. To the creators of the film: hey, you got your film made, so what if its not that great. Most people never get to see themselves or their work up on screen.

I was very happy about the choices for character casting. Everyone became their part, seeming very comfortable. Our two main characters had very good chemistry. The intermittent characters were given enough focus and detail so that you easily remember them.

It was amusing to follow the characters through all of their adventures. Most of the subplots were rooted in humor, but there were also some dramatic family elements that I felt were well balanced.

Some of the jokes were gross, but still funny. They easily avoided inappropriate language and situations leaving this film an easy pick for teens.

Can't wait for the DVD!

This movie had so much potential to be hilarious yet moving but fell way short of either. It had a great story line, it just was not executed as good as it could have been. The weird "hallucinations" during his sleep scenes made absolutely no sense and definitely was not needed, they made no impact nor did they enhance or lend any understanding of what was to come or happen.

Jon Heder's character was OK but could have been expanded upon more. He played the crappy part he was given at his best. The character was funny, but again, it fell short of what could have been.

Mila's character was perfect and her performance was spot on.

In closing, the writing was horrible and more often than not, made no sense and his hallucinations did not fit with the movie at all. This movie, with better scripting and directing, could have been a contender to National Lampoon's Vacation as far as funny, bad things happening to a person on a trip across America.

Instead, it was only worthy of a second "flush". If I would have seen this at the theater, I would have demanded my money back and boycotted the film.

The only thing that this film did was waste an hour and a half of my life. It also managed to make all those involved in the movie look bad, simply because the movie was a stinker.

I do not recommend this movie to anyone! Ever!