[RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 4.4/5 stars. IMDB: 8/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 4.4/5 stars. IMDB: 7.6/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 2.5/5 stars, IMDB: 5.2/10.
CLAIRE’S THOUGHTS: A movie written by the writers of the failed cartoon Allen Gregory that nobody liked? It’s a good thing I didn’t know that going in, and watched this for the concepts of “Jack Black” and “High School Reunion”.
But man, I did NOT know what I was getting into! Wow!
WTF!!!
This was truly a trainwreck of EPIC PROPORTIONS, about self-delusion and self-aggrandizing and rose-tinted nostalgia and… Oh my fucking god, the horror. In terms of “cringe comedy”, what is it when you are cringing so goddamn hard that you aren’t sure if it’s comedy anymore? That you can’t look away because The D Train…. Is a train wreck? Holy mother of god. Like watching Marty McFly in Back To The Future play Rock & Roll to a crowd of people who JUST DON’T GET IT [That has always been one of the most awkward moments inu all of film to me, for some reason].
Is it me, or is this the only movie in existence where the MacGuffen is simply “a guy so cool, that he can bro-rape you?”
Oh my god.
It was a comedic movie, but it only felt like a “well done but generic comedy” for most of the time — The type of thing that would get a 3.4 /5 on Netflix and a 7/10 in IMDB… The type of movie that is not super-memorable …
But then the basic comedy stopped, and the downward spiral trainwreck into full-on hardcore CRINGE comedy began … and continued … and continued…. And the movie-rating actually grew. The turn for the horrible really improved the movie. It was like the NBC sitcom writers [who tend to repeat the “liar digs hole for himself” story ad infinitum] actually had a chance to develop a plot that lasted longer than 22 minutes — And things just kept getting worse and worse. Paint yourself into a corner and then some. It was like, “Any minute now, a joke is going to happen!”, but it didn’t. The plot becomes the joke, but it’s just not a joke that feels like a joke when you’re in it.
Jesus fucking christ. That was just really awkward. I’m glad they threw in some outright jokes at the end, because this was mildly traumatizing. Though in reality, none of it should really be anything anyone blinks an eye at. But they WERE bliking eyes. A LOT. The awkwardness was so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife. Jack Black has never played such a wanna-be character in his entire career. And he played it well. The joke is on him, so he had to actually play it straight most of the time.
CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: This movie surprised me. I thought it wasn’t all that, but then it became a pretty intense spiral. I’d be waiting for a joke, but instead it was just like “Holy shit!”
PEOPLE:
Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda movies, Gulliver’s Travels, Year One, Run Ronnie Run, Shallow Hal, Bongwater, I Know What You Did Last Summer 2, The Cable Guy, Tropic Thunder, Be Kind Rewind, Mars Attacks!, School Of Rock, High Fidelity, 4 eps of Mr. Show, 2 eps of Drunk History) as Dan Landsman.
James Marsden (Cyclops in the X-Men movies, Anchorman movies, Small Apartments, the son in Robot & Frank, Sex Drive, Death At A Funeral (2010), Sex Drive, Zoolander, 2 eps of Wander Over Yonder, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Oliver Lawless.
Kathryn Hahn (Wanderlust, Bad Words, The Dictator, Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, Step Brothers, Afternoon Delight, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, Ab Fab, How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days, The Hungover Games, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of American Dad) as Stacey Landsman.
Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr. in Arrested Development, Hank Kingsley in The Larry Sanders Show, Hangover movies, Hellboy, Superhero Movie, EuroTrip, Professor Cakes in China IL, A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, 4 eps of Archer, 2 eps of 3-South) as Bill Shurmur.
Russell Posner as Zach Landsman.
Henry Zebrowski (Gary in Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell, Heroes Reborn, 5 eps of Michael & Michael Have Issues, 2 eps of Aqua Teen Hunger Force) as Craig.
Kyle Bornheimer (Blades Of Glory, She’s Out Of My League, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Breaking Bad, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of The Office) as Randy.
Mike White (The Stepford Wives, School Of Rock, 1 ep of Undeclared) as Jerry.Music: Babes In Toyland – Lashes
Claire's blog 
Leave a comment