Soujiro

As many reviewers have already stated, this movie is based on a premise that is incredibly unbelievable, even for a comedy, even for an Apatow comedy. At least in The 40 Year Old Virgin, you could kind of barely understand the appeal of the main character. Not here. Ben is a little too realistically lame to be funny or sympathetic. The movie shares space in that uncanny valley that "King of the Hill" occupies, where you realize with slowly growing horror that thousands of emotionally and intellectually stunted "men" like these characters exist. Although the movie makes light fun of their lifestyle, it ultimately excuses and justifies it. And so we reach the crux of the problem:

I don't care how drunk she gets, an intelligent, attractive, successful woman is not going to sleep with Ben, ever, to say nothing of not having an abortion if she were to become impregnated with his loser-spawn. Movies like this are comfort food for teens and man-children who shirk responsibility and spout lazy profanity all day because they have nothing interesting to say. I'm sure that if I were thirteen again, I would find the constant use of the F-word, homophobic jokes, and "stoned guys think everything is funny" scenes to be works of comic brilliance, but it all sounds pretty trite to my ancient 29 year old ears.

I liked Mallrats, Austin Powers, even Dodgeball and Zoolander. I have no problems laughing at a low-brow comedy, even profanity if it is used in interesting ways, but screenwriters need to stop insulting the intelligence and judgment of their female characters. If the movie poked fun at its own stupidity with more vigor or provided some meaningful character development, it would be less of an issue, but the tone jerks violently back and forth in a half-hearted effort to shoehorn some kind of life lesson into its ludicrous plot.

The end result of this bipolar sitcomminess is that the target audiences leave with the suspicion that their fruitless, ignorant lives are actually not so bad. After all, a heterosexual relationship with a beautiful woman and the miracle of childbirth are all it takes to turn everything around. Why waste time maturing into a decent, intelligent, tolerant, productive member of society? That's so lame. Just let your brain idle in that adolescent sweet-spot and fantasize about having sex with every attractive woman you see without ever taking the time to actually get to know one. Your penis will work its mysterious magic, and presto! you shall become a man. This is not a helpful message for the already ignorant youth of America.

Even if you thought The Forty Year Old Virgin was a work of genius, there's a good chance you'll be disappointed by this one. However, if you thought Wedding Crashers was hilarious, this will be right up your alley. Of course, if you happen to be a lazy slob with a dead-end job who hangs out all day gaming and getting high with equally brainless companions, maybe this movie will bring you some misguided hope that a wonderful woman you don't deserve will decide to clean up your life for you just because you're so damn irresistible... or maybe you'll be depressed about how ridiculous and unfunny it all is and just want your money back.

The A Team is all about cheese, but when a bar full of homophobic rednecks starts rocking out to Boy George, the show reaches a level of surreal ridiculousness attained by very few programs.

It's a perfect illustration of the strange and delicate balance that characterized the 80's between rigid adherence to gender roles and ultra macho men on one side, and the androgynous queer-chic MTV culture on the other.

I probably watched every A-Team episode two or three times as a kid, but this is the one that always sticks in my mind because it totally obliterated the fragile suspension of disbelief I had painstakingly held on to.

And yet, when Mr. T and Boy George, two males on the opposite sides of the masculine spectrum "bond" (figuratively) at the end, it's actually kind of a sweet moment. That Boy George is a sass machine when he kicks down that door. No one's gonna make him cry. You go George.