Film’s lousy, but aptly titled
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 9, 2006
The title “Failure to Launch” is almost too tempting a play on words for this non-starting comedy, which tries to fly out of the nest and immediately flops on its head. It feels like a first draft in need of a polish.
The main character is a manchild on the order of the guys in “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” and “Grandma’s Boy.” Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) has a lucrative job and a stream of girlfriends. He also lives with his parents.
At 35, this is not merely a convenient way to save on rent and have somebody do your laundry for you. It’s also the way to keep his dates from getting too serious. The strategy is to have fun with women, then bring them home to meet the folks.
The folks are played by Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw – yes, the Terry Bradshaw who quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s and blabs it up as an analyst on NFL pregame shows. It’s enough to drive any prospective girlfriend away.
The parents hire a professional named Paula, who … well, what’s the phrase for what Sarah Jessica Parker plays in this movie? A woman who dates men with the express purpose of getting them to move out of their parents’ houses.
I’m not sure there’s a business card for that, since it’s one of those movie jobs that can’t possibly exist in the world.
That’s the movie’s premise: Paula goes out with Tripp, pretending to be interested in him but actually following a prescribed series of steps that will result in his guaranteed flying-of-the-coop. Three guesses on what happens in the final third of the movie.
“Failure to Launch” stumbles in a variety of ways. McConaughey and Parker lack chemistry of the most basic kind. The film tries to please too many different audiences. Along with the screwball romance, there’s a thread of Farrelly brothers-style slapstick, most of which involves X-treme sportsman Tripp being bitten by wild animals.
Then there’s the impossibility of Paula existing. Add to that her unlikely housemate, played by Zooey Deschanel (star of this week’s “Winter Passing”), who looks 20 years younger than Sarah Jessica Parker and seems an odd match for a roomie. To be fair, Deschanel is the most charming thing about the film, her deadpan style triumphing over a bizarre subplot that has her character trying to kill a noisy mockingbird.
Director Tom Dey has now made three definitively bad comedies: “Shanghai Noon,” Eddie Murphy’s “Showtime” and this. Maybe drama is more his strong suit.
I have gotten this far without mentioning Terry Bradshaw’s nude scene. You should thank me for this. Even in 1976 this would have qualified as wretched excess, but in 2006 … well, let’s just say it doesn’t look as though Terry’s been declining many pastries lately.
“Failure to Launch” H
Dumb and dumber: Unfunny romantic comedy about a 35-year-old manchild (Matthew McConaughey) who lives with his parents, and the professional (Sarah Jessica Parker) they hire to get him out of the house.
Rated: PG-13 for language, subject matter
Now showing: Alderwood, Everett 9, Galaxy 12, Marysville 14, Mountlake 9, Metro Cinemas, Oak Tree, Woodinville, Cascade Mall 14, Oak Harbor
