Wanderlust Review

Wanderlust, from director David Wain, isn't exactly well written, or particularly well thought out, but it does make for a pretty funny movie. The film follows a young New York couple, Linda and George (Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd), getting hit hard by the recession, and being forced to move away from the city. Weighing their options of what to do next in their lives, they decide to make camp at a rural commune where free love reigns and peace rules.

The movie can suffer from being a one note comedy. Many of the secondary characters in the film are nothing more than caricatures of roles we've seen plenty of times before. But Wain's script is able to find enough room to make most of these characters have at least a few funny moments, and enough of those funny moments add up to the film being overall fairly enjoyable, despite it's flaws.

It's terrific seeing Paul Rudd get starring roles in comedy films, like I Love You, Man, or How Do You Know, and now Wanderlust. He's been a great supporting actor in comedy movies for years, and Wanderlust gives him a lot of opportunities to show off, more so than in many of his recent movies, including starring roles. One scene in particular is a highlight, with Rudd trying to find just the right words he wants to say before...getting in bed. The scene goes on a bit too long, but Rudd is able to go with it and make it work really well, despite the content.

It should also be pointed out that the movie is very much an R-rated film, and doesn't do a whole lot to hide it. Much of the rating comes from the film's dialogue, which gets down right filthy at times, in the most comedic ways possible. This is what we've come to expect from a David Wain film, though. Filthy dialogue, sexually free characters, and hilarious payoffs because of that combo.

At times Wanderlust seems to be rushing itself ahead far too quickly, especially towards the end of the second act. This is especially true for Jennifer Aniston's character, who has a fairly dramatic twist towards the conclusion that the film just kind of throws away a few minutes later. Without giving away any of the story, the twist is something that I don't think would be taken lightly with a lot of married couples, and the resolution just doesn't seem to be grounded in much reality. However, most of the movie takes this liberty, most of the time for beneficial reasons, but this part bothered me a bit.

While Wanderlust may not be on par with previous Wain films like Role Models, it is still a pretty enjoyable comedy with two stars having a lot of fun in their roles. The movie drags in the middle, and oddly picks the pace up a little too quickly for its own good, but manages to maintain the laughs throughout.


B