DESPITE PAUL RUDD AND JUSTIN THEROUX’S MAD-LIBS, HIPPIE COMMUNE COMEDY FALLS FLAT
Wanderlust by name, wanderlust by nature. During this forgettable, clichéd and disjointed comedy, I did indeed experience a strong desire to travel – if only to the other screens in the cinema, to see what better films were playing.
Playing a New York couple experiencing financial difficulties, Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston play George and Linda, who, through a nonsensical series of events, find themselves shacking up in a hippie commune headed by the charismatic guru Seth (a very funny Justin Theroux.)
While Aniston is inoffensive and attractive as ever, the film really depends on Rudd and Theroux’s improvisational skills, ability, and the highlights indeed come from the ad-libbed, absurdly long, hilariously awkward and self-conscious riffs that have become Rudd’s trademark. No matter how charming Rudd is, the highlight of a film should never be his five minute self-motivational sex talk that involved a Jamaican-ghetto accent and repeated refrains of “I’m-a put my deeek in your vayge.” Especially when director David Wain – despite his history in sketch comedy – seems surprisingly ill-equipped to deal with this improvisation, as obvious cuts during Rudd’s ranting betray several takes.
Which is a travesty, as there’s little else to fall back on. Every predictable hippie caricature is rolled out, including violent vegans, free-love advocated and an obsessive nudist (Joe Lo Truglio, complete with a very bad prosthetic penis.) The cast give it their all, but with such unrealistic and irritating characters, their work is largely thankless. And as Wain prefers to focus on individual moments of hit-and-miss comedy instead of seeking any kind of narrative flow, cohesion or – you know – plot, the story becomes completely unengaging and instantly forgettable.
Which doesn’t really matter if you go to the cinema in order to let your brain wander off for a couple of hours; in which case, pack a bag and book yourself a ticket.