FAILURE
TO LAUNCHOk, so I live with my mother (in-law). But that is acceptable since I am married her daughter and she lives with her as well. I have not asked mom if she wants us out. With house prices the way they are around here I am sort of reluctant to.
But that is the premise of Failure To Launch, the newest and brightest romantic comedy of the year. Getting the boy out of the house and into the world.
I guess a lot of parents are experiencing this problem. What with adult kids coming home or some just not moving out, I can see where old mom and dad would feel like they are losing their 'Golden Years'. And take a look at some of the losers who are still at home.
Demo, a world traveling slacker who wants only to experience life. Who wants no boundaries or limits placed on his life. His jobs are mostly minimum wage positions that he can leave whenever he wants to.
Ace, a computer nerd who is a loser with women and hides behind him friends and motherboard.
Chazz Reinhold, a womanizing clown who seems interested in only one thing, getting some. He orders his mother around like she is his servant.
And then there is Tripp. Played perfectly by McConaughey Tripp is in his mid-30's and quite happy having a mother who makes his bed, cleans his room, cooks his food and reminds him to take a snack when he leaves the house.
He works as a boat broker and makes enough to own a Porsche, but since he lives at home he probably saves enough in rent to pay for it. He wears very nice clothes, and always knows just which shirt to put on.
If this movie had been made in the '90's everyone would have just figured he was gay.
Now, he's the dream
of the American male. A new, beautiful girlfriend every few months, and when
he is tired of dating her or she gives him the 'look' (and every married man
knows that look. It has varying meaning but we still see it) he knows just what
to do. But all is not happy happy joy joy land with the parents. At a small gathering of friends and neighbors, Al and Sue, Tripp's parents find out about a very unusual service available to them.
A few days later, Tripp is on a chair-buying trip with his parents and meets a beautiful, leggy blond named Paula. Both seem smitten with the other, and on their first date he takes her on a romantic lunch on a beautiful boat. Which isn't his, he is just selling it.
Which is supposed to show us that he is dashingly irresponsible as well as charming.
Of course, Paula has been hired to make him more self-confident about himself, enabling him to be able to move out of the house. Her plan is really simple.
Let him impress you, teach you something, be there for you emotionally, you have to bond with his friends, and finally you reel him in.
All of this is designed to make Tripp feel like he deserves to be on his own.
Paula is actually a professional who does this for a living; working with men who still live at home, helping them to overcome their own feeling of inferiority and to gain a new perspective.
As a professional, she has certain rules such as never fall in love with a target and never, ever have sex with him.
But this is a movie so we know what is going to happen.
The movie
is actually quite funny. Truth be told, I laughed harder in this thing then
I have in any movie in a year. Well, except for The Cave. The supporting cast is what really sold this film to me. I first went to see it for Parker and McConahey both of whom I usually like; and Terry Bradshaw just to see if he had any talent off a football field.
Imagine my surprise at finding that Cathy Bates, Bradshaw and the circle of friends were nothing short of amazing.
The circle of friends includes Ace and Demo, and Paula's friend Kit (Deschanel) who spends most of the first part of the film obsessing over a Mockingbird that is outside their apartment singing and won't let her sleep.
In fact one of the funniest bits comes when Kit tries to buy a shotgun and, "Only one shell."
The other funny bits include various injuries Tripp acquires during the film, including one with a lizard that I think went over the top.
Still, this is funny. It is not a 'chick flick' as much as it is a nice 'date movie'. Forget the piece of crap with that name.
But remember that this is a modern movie with a good-looking cast. You can expect nudity so all you young, horny guys get a seat near the front so you can see everything.
But there is something that does bother me about Paula's situation. When she sleeps with Tripp, it is while she is still trying to get him to fall for her, and to move out of the house. She is still working for his parents. For money.
Paula had sex with Tripp for money. Basically Paula became a high-paid hooker that night. I understand that this was needed for the movie and I agree with it. In fact, I honestly have no problem with it.
But I do wonder at a generation of men and women brought up to think that sex is nothing more then a physical act, something that can be tossed around like a leaf in a breeze.
The fact that Paula and Tripp (and I am not giving anything away) fall in love is not lost on me, and I think it is a wonderful point in the film. But, women don't need any further input from Hollywood that their greatest ability to capture a mans heart is between their legs.
And men certainly don't need any more evidence that all they are supposed to be is a sperm donor on feet. Both sexes get enough brain washing about sex from movies and TV as it is.
Lets leave some things out next time and see what happens. You know, some people on this planet actually do fall in love before they have sex. Some even get married. Like Andy Stitzer, who seemed to have things work out right.
Look, I loved this movie. I think it would be fun for a first date, or even a couple of old married folks who will go back home and worry if Junior or Janie will be coming home for a vacation or to move in next week.
And it will be great for all the guys living by themselves or with roommates, eating cold pizza for breakfast, dirty clothes everywhere and always fighting over who does dishes, to think about 'what could have been.'
Failure To Launch runs an hour and a half. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content, partial nudity and rough language." Kids over 12 would probably have a lot of fun and be able to understand the points the movie was trying to make.
Go, watch, enjoy.