It unfortunately doesn’t have any active-duty Navy Seals in it, but I thought Wanderlust (2012) was funny. It’s not Role Models or Wet Hot— it’s not an audience killer by any means. My audience seemed to like it, but only a few scenes really got big laughs; most of the movie felt more oriented towards smaller giggles. But I thought there was a lot to like— especially the first shot of Justin Theroux, Keri Kenney’s expressions the entire movie, Ken Marino, whoever Ken Marino’s kid was— I thought that kid was awesome, even though he only had like one line. Paul Rudd had a handful of great moments— he was better than anything I’ve seen him in since Role Models. Really, the only person I disliked was Aniston, who I dislike in general— she was as useless as ever as a performer, and it sounds like she actively hurt the movie with diva shit.
I’m an extremely easy audience for a comedy, though— it’s pretty rare I don’t find something in a comedy to like. I doubt it’s big enough to find a huge audience in theaters— the ads were pretty shitty, the story is a shaggy mess, and the jokes are hippie-square jokes that aren’t really cutting edge. But I felt like it was one of those movies that I’d be happy if it came on Comedy Central on a Sunday morning. One of those movies that’ll be better the 4th time you see it by accident…
They showed the trailer to Rock of Ages beforehand. It made me want to vote for Rick Santorum. I don’t really like Rick Santorum, but if embracing theocracy is what it takes to prevent me ever having to see the trailer for Rock of Ages, again, then I embrace theocracy…
