Cottage Country

Malin Akerman (Watchmen) and Tyler Labine (Reaper) are Cammie and Todd, one of those awful couples that have cutesy nicknames for each other. They plan on spending a momentous romantic vacation at Todd's parents cabin by the lake, but when his slacker brother shows up with his girlfriend this go quickly from bad to worse,

A proper black comedy needs to mix the comedy with the macabre. Look at Heathers for black comedy done right. Hell look at Very Bad Things, a film that this one has a passing resemblance to. Both the aforementioned films work because of this mixture. Cottage Country does not. The dark moments aren't funny, the funny scenes not particularly dark. The film is passable entertainment but only marginally so. It's not terrible, just not funny and overlong.

From the producers of "Hobo With a Shotgun" comes Cottage Country. The film's lead being Tyline Labine, who you will probably recognize from the film "Tucker and Dale vs Evil", a film where he both figuratively & literally killed it in the role as Dale. Labine returns to a film filled with accident evil, not quite as good as Tucker and Dale, but a fun romp

Here Labine plays the somewhat more refined role of Todd Chipowski, a man who has planned out the perfect week long getaway at his parent's lake house with his longtime girlfriend Cammie(Malin Akerman). Todd has planned a bit more than just the vacation, he and Cammie have plans to paddle out to the lake's remote island and find the perfect spot for Todd to pop the question. Before they even get settled in, Todd's rowdy, obnoxious brother Salinger(Dan Petronijevic) shows up with his sleazy girlfriend Masha in tow(Lucy Punch). When Todd tells Sal to hit the road they end up in a scuffle which ends up with the better part of an ax head buried into his Sal's neck. When Cammie hears the news, she decides that nothing is going stop their engagement and they continue with their plans on the island. Little do they know that Sal has invited all his friends over for a big bash that very night and they return to find a house full of strangers and a whole lot of explaining,lying and diverting to do as to the whereabouts of Sal and why his car is in the driveway.

It has been done before effectively in numerous dark comedies, but this film has a fresh feel and once it fully gets going, will have you laughing a good deal as well as squirming in your seat. One great surprise for me was the effective zig-zag in the film's final minutes, it does something unpredictable and leaves you with a certain upbeat sense of karma. I think it's a fine choice for some good laughs and some great spurts of uncomfortable tension which I recommend if that's what you're in the mood for.

"Just one more thing and it's all over and we can do whatever we want with our lives." Todd (Labine) wants everything to be just perfect at the family cottage where he plans to propose to Cammie (Akerman). Things are going to plan until his brother and his girlfriend show up. After an attempt to get them to leave goes horribly wrong Todd's brother winds up dead. When Cammie finds out she has one solution, kill his girlfriend as well and no one will ever know. The plan is perfect until they return to the cabin and see a party happening...with guests invited by his brother. I was looking forward to this one mainly because the slasher- comedy movie Tucker and Dale vs Evil was so great I was hoping it would be like that. This did have funny parts in this but overall this wasn't nearly as funny as Tucker and Dale was. Much like that one though this is a very dark comedy and you laugh at things you shouldn't laugh at but the problem for me was that even though the actions were way over the top the actors seemed to play the movie straight. This little aspect made the movie lose some of the laughs that it could have gotten. Comparing this to Tucker and Dale isn't fair but that is the type of movie it is and is not as good as that one. Overall, disappointing but mainly because of my expectations. Not as funny as I was expecting. I give this a B-.

If you miss the tagline of this movie, expect to be surprised!

Seeing the first 20 minutes of the movie you might think that you are watching something between a romantic comedy and a National Lampoon's kind of film. Todd (Tyler Labine) and Cammie (Malin Akerman) are an unmarried couple, trying to get a short break of their hardworking daily routine by going to Todd's family cottage for the weekend. Todd is also planning to propose to Cammie in the most romantic place he can think of, by the lake!

The troubles began when Todd's loafer brother (Dan Petronijevic) and his weird girlfriend (Lucy Punch) arrive at the cottage without a notice! The two brothers can't get along, they fight and what happens next is the beginning of a nightmare. The viewer might think for a moment that is seeing a dream sequence or Todd's wishful thinking! Unfortunately everything is true and Todd and Cammie are following a path far more difficult that they can handle, especially Todd.

The movie has a few awkward moments and you aren't sure what to expect next. Malin Akerman gives a good performance as the determined woman-with-a-plan Cammie.

Overall: Recommended.

A horror comedy that has a man taking his girlfriend up to the cottage to propose. He gets a surprise visit from his brother and his girlfriend. Trying to get him to leave the two brothers end up fighting leaving one of the brothers with an axe in his neck. The fiancé helps cover up the crime so she can still get married. Before the brother is killed he invites a whole mess of people up for a party which of course adds to festivities. Anyone who gets suspicious ends up dead as well.

A pretty good dark humorous flick where anything can happen and it usually does. It is amazing how far some people will go to hide things. Sometimes it felt like American Psycho meets Three's Company. You will be laughing and getting shocked all at the same time. Well worth the watch. Check it out