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Failure To Launch

2006, Movie, PG-13, 97 mins

Failure To Launch: Review

FAILURE TO LAUNCH
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Dear newspaper advice columnist: What should a pair of comfortably middle-class, retirement-aged, aspiring empty-nesters do about the gainfully employed, physically and mentally sound son in his thirties who just won't move out because he's got such a sweet deal at home? This awkward, flabby romantic comedy pivots on a preposterous answer: They should hire a "consultant" to use her carefully calculated charm to beguile the self-sufficiency-averse heel-dragger (but not sleep with him — what kind of girl do you think she is?) until he's so besotted he'll flee the family nest voluntarily, free laundry service and home-cooked meals notwithstanding. The inevitable, heart-shattering letdown will presumably take care of itself, and the long-suffering 'rents will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labors in peace. And so that's what Al and Sue (Kathy Bates, football icon Terry Bradshaw) do when it becomes apparent that their over-age adolescent, 35-year-old Tripp (Matthew McConaughey), is content to live at home indefinitely and is actually using them to keep commitment-minded girls at bay. Briskly efficient Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), who's already worked her wiles on a neighbor's deadbeat offspring, starts to play Tripp by the book, feigning interest in his hobbies, winning over best buds Ace and Demo (Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper) — who've also embraced the philosophy of better living through never leaving home — and generally proving herself adventurous, fun-loving and independent. But the inevitable happens: Paula, who's not as coldly businesslike as she'd like people to believe, falls for Tripp just as word gets back to him that she's on the clock, making a big fat mess of everything. That there's precious little chemistry between buffed-and-tanned stars Parker and McConaughey is only the first of this slight, overly busy film's problems: It's also saddled with an excess of subplots that include Al's late-life embrace of nudism, Tripp's alienation from the natural world (his mere proximity incites bloodlust in normally inoffensive creatures), nerdy Ace's budding romance with Paula's morose roommate, Kit (Zooey Deschanel) and Kit's trigger-happy vendetta against the mockingbird whose singing keeps her up at night. All are funnier than the main story, whose creepy premise demands major tiptoeing around lest it slip into the realm of outright smarminess thoroughly unsuitable for a PG-13-rated comedy. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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