Those of you who know me are thinking "Kathryn, what were you thinking when you decided to pop this film to the top of your Netflix queue? That you would actually like this film?"
Well, I'll tell you what I was thinking--I wanted a light, fun comedy to entertain me on a holiday weekend and I wanted to see what this film was all about. This supposedly hilarious film that had people quoting lines at me and recapping scenes, declaring that I just had to see it before I die, it's just that funny. Finally, I wanted to see the movie considered by many to be the funniest movie of last year. Every once in a while, it's good to tap into the zeitgeist of mainstream popular film.
It's not that I had high hopes for this film but I really didn't expect it to be so mediocre. The set-up is okay: two pals old enough to know better crash weddings and party like frat boys, picking up women. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have a fair bit of chemistry bouncing buddy humor off one another but once the film leaves the set-up and gets into the plot, the humor taps off. The middle section of the film, when the guys become house guests of a wealthy family on the Cape, is dullsville and mildly offensive. But I guess that's the point.
Overall, the humor is lazy and not very clever. Each member of the eccentric Cleary family is a one-note joke: the drunk gay-bashing grandma, Owen's snotty ivy league romantic rival, the boozed-up, horny mother, the nympho sister, and the sullen Crispin Glover-wannabe gay brother who develops an embarrassing crush on Vince. That leaves the head of the clan, Treasury Secretary Cleary (Christopher Walken), the only family member without a comedy button to wear on his lapel because, well, he's Christopher Walken. Unfortunately, having the wild-haired Walken in the role doesn't guarantee comedy gold; he has surprisingly little personality in this film outside of a wavering Hahvahd Yahd accent.
The plot was predictable and most unfunny when at its raunchiest. Obviously it's a matter of taste and raunchy just doesn't get me laughing. [* out of 5]
