Basically a cartoon
Added 2/2/2010
No one in this romantic comedy vehicle rings the slightest bit true. All are cartoonish figures, as is the premise of a 30 something guy who can't move out of his parents' house. At least the upscale interiors are fun to look at. McConaughey's teeth are unnaturally white, which is also annoying. One does get the feeling his character is closest to him in real life, given his gallivanting with buddy Lance Armstrong. I didn't laugh at anything here, but at least it moves along at a relatively brisk pace.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Failure to Launch
Added 1/3/2010
Tripp is a thirty-five years old bachelor man that still lives with his parents, Al and Sue. Al and Sue hire the manipulative interventionist Paula to play Tripp's girlfriend and seduce him, convincing Tripp to move out of their home. Paula and Tripp fall in love for each other, but Tripp's best friends Ace and Demo accidentally find the truth about Paula and Demo discloses to Tripp, spoiling the plan and their relationship. When Tripp and Paula miss each other, their friends plot a scheme trying to arrange an encounter to fix the situation. Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates are crazy/funny and actually parents I would love to have. The rest of the cast, especially the character of Kit, are perfect for the parts played and extremely funny. This is feel good and light-hearted comedy.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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This film fails at just about everything...
Added 7/17/2009
If ever a films title should persuade you to walk in the other direction, `Failure to Launch' is truly telling. I am so tempted to give this an `F' and be done with it, but I find that there is at least one redeeming factor in this big pile of unrealistic, clichéd garbage; the stars. Yes, no matter how ridiculous and unintelligible and utterly preposterous this lazy mess of a film really is, each and every actor involved does all they can to make it watchable.
So, for you Zooey, Matthew, Kathy and Jessica; I give this horrible film a D.
The film revolves around Paula, a professional motivator who is hired by Al and Sue, parents of man-child Tripp. Tripp is approaching his middle-age years and he has yet to move out of the house; causing his parents to resort to Paula as a way to get him out the door. Of course, as you probably could have guessed, Paula falls in love with Tripp, Tripp finds out that she is scamming him and breaks things off, everyone's life falls apart and then they make up and things are happy again. The issue I have with the film isn't the formula, because it's become apparent that there really is no other formula available to screenwriters today. My issue is the reckless abandon with which the screenwriters chose to formulate the formula. It's just very mediocre, and when it tries to be original (there are far too many animals here) it winds up being so preposterous that it is almost insulting to the audience.
Thank God Almighty for the charm and comedic timing of Zooey Deschanel and Sarah Jessica Parker. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Matthew McConaughey does his usual schtick and looks `super hot' (according to my wife) and so bonus points for him or whatever, but really this movie is not about him. No, if it wasn't for Parker's undeniable charm and comedic chemistry or Deschanel's flawless timing and sensual draw this movie would have been a complete waste for me.
Kathy Bates is generally good in everything, so bonus points for that.
In the end though, I hate to say that I cannot recommend this movie to anyone. In fact, when anyone I know that has seen this finds out that I've seen it they roll their eyes and ask why I didn't turn it off before it started; it is that bad. There is nothing new, nothing remotely memorable and nothing that warrants repeated viewing at all. I love you Zooey, and you really worked your cute little buns off to make me enjoy every moment you were on screen; but even your quirky charm cannot save this disgrace from my trash bin.
Seeing her made me realize that I NEED to get to the movies and see `(500) Days of Summer' though!
2 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Nothing Special
Added 7/15/2009
I don't think this movie really had much I mean it was just okay. There was nothing really special about it, I thought that it was going to be a romantic comedy and it really was either. I saw it and now that's it. Nothing to refer a friend or family member to.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Imagine that: A rom-com starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Why, knock me over with a feather! McConaughey gets to prance around with an open shirt, and Sarah gets to flutter those pretty peepers. And that about sums up FAILURE TO LAUNCH, a syrupy, sticky blech-fest (with some really bizarre, yet lame, animal attack scenes thrown in for good measure) that was plucked from two-stardom by some pretty solid performances by several supporters, including Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, and Terry Bradshaw (who knows no decency).
A "consultant" hired by McConaughey's parents (Bradshaw and Kathy Bates) to trick (by feigning a relationship) their thirtysomething, fun-loving son Tripp to move out, Parker's character suddenly finds herself harboring romantic feelings. Wow, like we never saw that coming. And of course the metaphorical cat gets out of the bag, the ruse is exposed, Tripp gets ticked, and everyone else plots how to get these two stubborn lovebirds back together. Deschanel, playing Parker's quirky roommate, is so odd she's very, very good, and Bradshaw will stop at nothing to be the center of attention. His birthday suit scene has me starting therapy next week, yet at least made FAILURE TO LAUNCH immodestly entertaining.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Basically a cartoon
Added 2/2/2010
No one in this romantic comedy vehicle rings the slightest bit true. All are cartoonish figures, as is the premise of a 30 something guy who can't move out of his parents' house. At least the upscale interiors are fun to look at. McConaughey's teeth are unnaturally white, which is also annoying. One does get the feeling his character is closest to him in real life, given his gallivanting with buddy Lance Armstrong. I didn't laugh at anything here, but at least it moves along at a relatively brisk pace.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Failure to Launch
Added 1/3/2010
Tripp is a thirty-five years old bachelor man that still lives with his parents, Al and Sue. Al and Sue hire the manipulative interventionist Paula to play Tripp's girlfriend and seduce him, convincing Tripp to move out of their home. Paula and Tripp fall in love for each other, but Tripp's best friends Ace and Demo accidentally find the truth about Paula and Demo discloses to Tripp, spoiling the plan and their relationship. When Tripp and Paula miss each other, their friends plot a scheme trying to arrange an encounter to fix the situation. Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates are crazy/funny and actually parents I would love to have. The rest of the cast, especially the character of Kit, are perfect for the parts played and extremely funny. This is feel good and light-hearted comedy.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
This film fails at just about everything...
Added 7/17/2009
If ever a films title should persuade you to walk in the other direction, `Failure to Launch' is truly telling. I am so tempted to give this an `F' and be done with it, but I find that there is at least one redeeming factor in this big pile of unrealistic, clichéd garbage; the stars. Yes, no matter how ridiculous and unintelligible and utterly preposterous this lazy mess of a film really is, each and every actor involved does all they can to make it watchable.
So, for you Zooey, Matthew, Kathy and Jessica; I give this horrible film a D.
The film revolves around Paula, a professional motivator who is hired by Al and Sue, parents of man-child Tripp. Tripp is approaching his middle-age years and he has yet to move out of the house; causing his parents to resort to Paula as a way to get him out the door. Of course, as you probably could have guessed, Paula falls in love with Tripp, Tripp finds out that she is scamming him and breaks things off, everyone's life falls apart and then they make up and things are happy again. The issue I have with the film isn't the formula, because it's become apparent that there really is no other formula available to screenwriters today. My issue is the reckless abandon with which the screenwriters chose to formulate the formula. It's just very mediocre, and when it tries to be original (there are far too many animals here) it winds up being so preposterous that it is almost insulting to the audience.
Thank God Almighty for the charm and comedic timing of Zooey Deschanel and Sarah Jessica Parker. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Matthew McConaughey does his usual schtick and looks `super hot' (according to my wife) and so bonus points for him or whatever, but really this movie is not about him. No, if it wasn't for Parker's undeniable charm and comedic chemistry or Deschanel's flawless timing and sensual draw this movie would have been a complete waste for me.
Kathy Bates is generally good in everything, so bonus points for that.
In the end though, I hate to say that I cannot recommend this movie to anyone. In fact, when anyone I know that has seen this finds out that I've seen it they roll their eyes and ask why I didn't turn it off before it started; it is that bad. There is nothing new, nothing remotely memorable and nothing that warrants repeated viewing at all. I love you Zooey, and you really worked your cute little buns off to make me enjoy every moment you were on screen; but even your quirky charm cannot save this disgrace from my trash bin.
Seeing her made me realize that I NEED to get to the movies and see `(500) Days of Summer' though!
2 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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