Friday, February 17, 2012

Go see a funny movie!



Last week I was lucky enough to see Wanderlust starring Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, and Malin Ackerman. I give this film two thumbs up, but it’s definitely not for everyone. From members of the comedy crew who brought us Wet Hot American Summer and who are originally from the 1990s MTV sketch show The State, Wanderlust has many oddities and a non-mainstream vibe, but if you don't LOL throughout, then you're a stupid face.



First things first – I was super excited to see the movie in which Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux fell in love. A quick word on why I love Jennifer Aniston – I’m not sure why. But I’m legit obsessed with her and think she’s perfect. I typically have a hatred (like a really strong and angry hatred) for people who don’t have a very defined personality (as she has been accused of), wet blankets, if you will. But like Lauren Conrad, I love her anyway and want only the best for her in life. And I want to be her. Did you just put Jennifer Aniston and Lauren Conrad in the same sentence? Yes. Yes, I did. Ok, moving on…

What happens is Linda (Jennifer Aniston) and George (Paul Rudd) want to take the next step in their married life – buying an apartment in New York City. The opening scene is with their realtor, an old woman, who somehow ends up talking about her blind husband and how she can get him off with one flick of her wrist. So yeah, if that kind of crassness offends you or isn’t up your alley, then this movie probably isn’t for you cause it gets more offensive and gross (but, in my opinion, an amazing way).

George and Linda end up buying a super expensive teeny tiny studio in the West Village (which, honestly looks really cute and cool even if they do have to sleep on a Murphy bed). George loses his job and they have to give up the apartment and move to Atlanta to live with his dickish brother Rick (Ken Marino, who also co-wrote the movie) in Atlanta.

On the way they stumble across an Inn and end up staying the night. They find out it’s not an Inn, it’s a commune, or as the members refer to it, an “intentional living” community, which is unofficially led by Seth (Justin Theroux). Linda and George have an amazing night hanging out, smoking pot, skinny dipping in the lake, and having sex without falling asleep in the middle of it, all that good stuff.



Anyway, blah blah blah they end up wanting to give commune living a shot, because they have nothing else to do. I would say “and hilarity ensues” but it’s seriously been ensuing this whole time. Paul Rudd is absolutely excellent. At the top of his game, really. I thought he was funny enough in I Love You Man but this brings that to the next level, because unlike that movie, this one is actually hilarious.



The audience laughed out loud at least once every 5 minutes. If you’re a fan of David Wain’s (the director and co-writer) work – Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models, Stella, Children’s Hospital—you will definitely like this and LOL even more often than that (which I did). It’s that kind of humor that’s, to borrow IFC’s catchphrase, is “always on, slightly off”. Besides the random / not-so-random nudity in this movie (there is a slow-mo scene of naked old people running and one of the characters is a nudist), there’s just the general feel that this movie is different. And so great. SO GO SEE IT!

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