MOVIE REVIEW: 'Wanderlust' so much less than sum of parts
“Wanderlust” is a movie with everything necessary to be a great comedy.
It features lead actors who are funny and charismatic, a great cast supporting them and a premise that seems ripe with potential for hilarious events to transpire.
Unfortunately “Wanderlust” rarely delivers on that potential, and when it finally does, the film tends to overuse the material until it is no longer funny or even moderately enjoyable.
The film follows George, played by Paul Rudd, and Linda, who is played by Jennifer Aniston, as they move from their busy New York City lifestyle to a tranquil commune in the countryside full of peaceful hippies.
Rudd and Aniston do fine, but both of them are playing characters they have already played in many other films. There just isn’t anything of substance to their characters or the relationship between them, so it’s almost impossible to foster any sort of connection with the audience.
Rick is extremely crude and mean, but he is also one of the funniest characters throughout the entire movie, which is why it’s a shame that he doesn’t really play a huge role.
George and Linda are forced to move in with Rick and his family for a short time, but after that Rick doesn’t show up again until the film is nearly over.
“Wanderlust” is not devoid of humor, but it seems like every time director David Wain found something funny, he felt the need to use it over and over again.
The same approach seems to be applied to the film’s philosophy of “money can’t buy happiness.”
Many viewers may leave the theater not with a smile, but with a concussion from being bludgeoned over the head so many times with repetitious and unfunny material, or from the film’s painfully overt philosophy.
