B- | A dinner date turns into a recounting of how two opposites fell in love. Directed by David Wain Starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Review by Jon Kissel |
He's a responsible candy executive with a troubled love life. She's adorable and clumsy and runs her own free-spirited candy store. These two don't belong together at all, but the power of love and their shared preference for fiction books can cross any bridge. In David Wain's latest comedy spoof, They Came Together, the tropes of romantic comedies are broken down and served up like so much peanut brittle, the proceeds from which will go to a charity, because I'm too cute to know how to run a business.
Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler star as Joel and Molly. Framed around them telling their story to friends Bill Hader and Ellie Kemper, they reminisce about their lives just before they met. Joel's just broken up with longtime girlfriend Maria Hill and Molly's candy shop is just barely surviving. A Halloween party fix-up by mutual friends goes poorly, but they keep running into each other and find common interests. While they try and make it work, Joel's company is trying to take over Molly's store, triggering inevitable break-ups and reconciliations.
Wain's trod this ground before with Wet Hot American Summer, his spoof of camp movies. They Came Together lacks the full-on insanity of that film, but it still has its share of laughs. Romantic comedies are predictable enough that the jokes can be seen coming, but the delivery carries them through. Every trope possible is stuffed in. Joel's an uptight guy because his parents died young, and has a regular pick-up game going with his friend group. Molly has a moppet of a son who she shares one scene with, and a Black best friend with no internal life who only lives for her. They share a Norah Jones-scored montage in which New York City is another character, with all its leaf piles and fruit stands. The first time they have sex is so passionate, they knock a lot of lamps over, though the act itself isn't included because Molly's a good girl. When Joel hooks back up with his ex, all manner of acrobatic positions are shown in shadow. Everything is recognizable, culminating in an ending that stretches past the point most romantic comedies conclude to show that Joel's coffee shop is a bust and he and Molly are in fact terrible for each other.
The jokes are taken further both by Wain and Showalter's script, and the actors, many of whom have been working together for years. Rudd and Poehler are able leads, Rudd turning in his affable just-Jewish-enough performance and Poehler utilizing her knack for physical comedy. The supporting cast is stuffed with State players and veterans of Wain's other work. Chris Meloni stands out as Joel's boss, and is given an entire subplot involving a skintight costume and a bathroom break that is treated pretty seriously for an 83-minute film. Ken Marino is hilarious as one of the basketball players, and Ed Helms, as accountant Eggbert Flaps, gets a very strange moment, also involving a bathroom. Maria Hill shares a very game sex montage with Paul Rudd, in the vein of Team America. A late cameo by Michael Shannon is absolutely perfect.
They Came Together contains a lot to recommend it. I prefer Wain when he's making a straightforward narrative like in Role Models or Wanderlust, but he and his team know how to make fun of stuff. The biggest shortcoming is that a movie this committed to deconstruction has no room for reality and therefore is reduced to little more than a long skit. Within that limiting framework, They Came Together succeeds in earning laughs but inevitably wears out its welcome around the second extended loop gag. Still, it's worth suffering through the slow parts for that cameo. B-
Wain's trod this ground before with Wet Hot American Summer, his spoof of camp movies. They Came Together lacks the full-on insanity of that film, but it still has its share of laughs. Romantic comedies are predictable enough that the jokes can be seen coming, but the delivery carries them through. Every trope possible is stuffed in. Joel's an uptight guy because his parents died young, and has a regular pick-up game going with his friend group. Molly has a moppet of a son who she shares one scene with, and a Black best friend with no internal life who only lives for her. They share a Norah Jones-scored montage in which New York City is another character, with all its leaf piles and fruit stands. The first time they have sex is so passionate, they knock a lot of lamps over, though the act itself isn't included because Molly's a good girl. When Joel hooks back up with his ex, all manner of acrobatic positions are shown in shadow. Everything is recognizable, culminating in an ending that stretches past the point most romantic comedies conclude to show that Joel's coffee shop is a bust and he and Molly are in fact terrible for each other.
The jokes are taken further both by Wain and Showalter's script, and the actors, many of whom have been working together for years. Rudd and Poehler are able leads, Rudd turning in his affable just-Jewish-enough performance and Poehler utilizing her knack for physical comedy. The supporting cast is stuffed with State players and veterans of Wain's other work. Chris Meloni stands out as Joel's boss, and is given an entire subplot involving a skintight costume and a bathroom break that is treated pretty seriously for an 83-minute film. Ken Marino is hilarious as one of the basketball players, and Ed Helms, as accountant Eggbert Flaps, gets a very strange moment, also involving a bathroom. Maria Hill shares a very game sex montage with Paul Rudd, in the vein of Team America. A late cameo by Michael Shannon is absolutely perfect.
They Came Together contains a lot to recommend it. I prefer Wain when he's making a straightforward narrative like in Role Models or Wanderlust, but he and his team know how to make fun of stuff. The biggest shortcoming is that a movie this committed to deconstruction has no room for reality and therefore is reduced to little more than a long skit. Within that limiting framework, They Came Together succeeds in earning laughs but inevitably wears out its welcome around the second extended loop gag. Still, it's worth suffering through the slow parts for that cameo. B-
RSS Feed