Paramount Pictures Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker
Directed By: Tom Dey
Rated: PG-13
Paramount Pictures
My parents were in town for my birthday and they wanted to take me to a matinee. I'm never one to turn down a free movie so, even though they picked Failure to Launch, I went along for the ride.
Let's face it--films like this are as predictable as they get, and you can always tell how they'll end from the theatrical trailer--and I had seen the trailer for this film. Here's the story: Tripp (McConaughey) is a 35-year-old guy who still lives at home with his parents Al and Sue (Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates). He doesn't mind one bit. He's loving life, not paying rent, and spending time with two friends who are also living at home. Al and Sue are kind of wishing he'd move on, however, so they hire Paula (Parker) to start dating Tripp. Paula has done this many times before--she dates the guy, bolsters his confidence, and gets him to fly the nest and go out on his own. Only this time, Paula discovers that her target is actually a nice guy and she starts falling for him.
You can see how this ends up, right? If not, skip the next paragraph. It's a spoiler.
This is a really old formula. Boy meets girl. Girl starts dating boy under false pretences. Girl falls in love and is about to tell boy about the whole thing, but boy finds out first and is furious. They break up. They're miserable. They make up. They live happily ever after.
Only a year or so ago, I saw How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It followed this formula and it was abysmal. Dull. Predictable.
Failure to Launch was a happy surprise, however. Though easily as predictable as other romantic comedies that follow this formula, Failure has clever dialog, likable and well-drawn characters, and is actually quite funny. McConaughey is always a likable sort in any film role that he does, and he and Parker make a good couple. Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates are perfect in their roles as Tripp's parents (although I could definitely have gone to my grave happy without ever having seen Terry Bradshaw's bare ass...shudder). Also excellent are Tripp's friends Ace (Justin Bartha) and Demo (Bradley Cooper), and Paula's friend Kit (Zooey Deschanel, the beautiful actress who played Trillian in last year's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).
Although it usually pains me greatly to watch a film that is as formulaic as this one, this is one case where the acting, actors, and dialog manage to rise above the mediocrity of a film's premise and cause the film to be better than it has any right to be.
Bottom line: Predictable, but surprisingly witty and charming. Actually worth seeing.