Susan Granger’s review of “Failure to Launch” (Paramount Pictures)
As date movies go, this misanthropic misfire is briefly amusing but instantly forgettable.
Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) is a 35 year-old luxury boat broker who still lives at home with his passive-aggressive parents (Kathy Bates, Terry Bradshaw). Why not? He’s coddled, catered to, and cleaned up after in comfy style. “It’s gonna take a stick of dynamite to get me out of this house!” this spoiled man/boy declares.
Obviously, he has commitment issues. To the rescue comes Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), a “professional interventionist” hired to entice Tripp to vacate the premises. Predictably, Tripp and Paula fall in love. Did you doubt it for a moment?
While facile, unshaven Matthew McConaughey oozes with affable charm, Sarah Jessica Parker once again proves – after “The Family Stone” – that she’s best suited to the small screen (i.e. “Sex in the City”), particularly when she’s engaging in emotional prostitution. So it’s the likeable supporting players who propel the enjoyment.
TV writers Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember have given the NFL’s Terry Bradshaw some insightful lines like: “When I was growing up, nobody had self-esteem, and we turned out OK.” Not to mention his bare backside scene. Zooey Deschanel (“Elf”), as Paula’s boozy, moody best friend, steals every scene she’s in. One of my favorites was when she (never having read Harper Lee) wants to kill a mockingbird and tries to buy a shotgun and single bullet, or shell, from a hapless sporting-goods salesman (Rob Corddry from “The Daily Show”). Tripp’s nerdy buddies (Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper) also amp the laugh quotient. And director Rob Dey never achieves the consistent tone that’s necessary for a screwball comedy. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Failure to Launch” is a barely sizzling 6. Why? The romance never ignites.
