***Hit the Road, Tripp*** (Failure To Launch (DVD))

Member Name: fabulous_girl

Product:	Failure To Launch (DVD)
Date:	12/04/06 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, Matthew McC

Disadvantages: none worth mentionning

When I came home this week, having a week off, my mummy suggested that we went shopping- as we normally do, and love, but as I am completely and utterly broke, I suggested that we went to the cinema instead- it was Bargain Tuesday at Ashford Cineworld, and would be a damn shame to waste that opportunity, given the horrendous weekend prices. So we trundled down their in the Rover, grabbed some nachos (almost completely obliterating our ‘bargainous’ visit- £3.70?!)

The film we chose was Failure to Launch- a chick flick (oh, quelle surprise Kati!), starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and Matthew McConaughey (I would).

***The Plot***
Tripp (MMcC) is a laddish type, who likes a lot of outdoor sports, has a very successful career selling boats, and is a hit with the ladies. Only, he still lives at home, at the age of 35. His parents are desperate to get him out, but it suits him fine. See, as soon as a girl starts to get too serious, he brings them home, and they back away and ditch him with the shock revelation that he still lives chez maman et papa. Plus his ma does all his washing.

Then, he meets Paula (SJP), in a chair store (as you do). She comes in for her daily sit down. Still not making an sense? Well, she brings the guys who work there coffee, and they let her have twenty minutes to unwind in her favourite chair. Tripp rudely interrupts her, but as he’s so damn fit, she doesn’t mind one bit, and gets right in there, organising lunch the next day.

And then, we discover that actually, Paula is a professional interventionist- hired by Tripp’s parents to get him to move out. She figures that self-esteem is higher when a guy is in a relationship, and so he’s more likely to want to stand on his own two feet, and so she claims that she will have him moved out in the next couple of months.

So they go on a series of dates, she has the pattern all worked out. They go out, she pretends to like everything he does, she looks pretty and then he helps her through an emotional time (her dog being put down, well, someone’s dog that she found at the vets), she meets his friends (paintballing), he teaches her something (how to sail), and then bam, he’s ready to go.

Only there’s a bit of confusion on the way, and Paula may just be falling for Tripp, or he might be for her. Or someone might just tell him what’s going on, and tell her the tragic circumstancesinvolving his cute ‘nephew’ Jeffrey which led to him never moving out. It all becomes a bit tangled up, but with a little help from their friends, will Tripp and Paula ‘Make It’?

***Opinion***
I went into the film thinking it was going to be great- then I realised I better put a more critical cap on for the purposes of a review, and so I tried to be indifferent to it. Even so, I loved it. Its hilarious, moving, and not your average ‘boy meets girl, boy marries girl’ story. Its more like ‘girl meets boy and screws up his life a bit’. Its also funny, with wit coming from both SJP and Matthew McFit, and his friends Demo and Ace (both, not all that bad). There’s a lot of sports in the film, and sport-related funnies and much animal humour with Tripp getting injured by every animal that crosses his path, so I might even go so far as to say you girls could drag your other halves along, and they won’t sulk for too long afterwards.

The funniest person in the film is SJP’s flatmate, Kit (Zooey Deschanel). She’s moody, sarcastic, cynical, and blunt as anything, driven almost crazy by a mockingbird outside her window that will not shut up. Watch out for the fun and games when she attempts to buy a gun.

My only niggles were that Kathy Bates didn’t really get a chance to shine. I suppose this is passable as she wasn’t one of the main characters as such, but after her performances in such films as Misery, I thought they’d be a bit more of her. Also, I noticed this before, in Sex and the City, but it came to light even more in this film. SJP can not say ‘figure’, she says ‘fig-yure’. Immensely irritating. But still, she did a whole lot better in this film than she did in The Family Stone earlier this year. Oh, and there’s an overly cheesy bit right at the end, which I wish had not been put in, involving a dolphin.

This film has been tagged as romantic comedy of the year. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, its only April, lets see what the rest of the year brings first. But it’s definitely right up there- and I may even consider the DVD when it comes out (I never buy DVD’s until they reach £3.99 usually).

***Cast, Specs and Stuff***
Matthew McConaughey- Tripp (How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, A Time to Kill)
Sarah Jessica Parker – Paula (Sex and the City, The Family Stone)
Zooey Deschanel – Kit (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Good Girl)
Justin Bartha – Ace (National Treasure, Teachers)
Bradley Cooper – Demo (Alias, My Little Eye)
Terry Bradsahw – Al (Robots, Blossom, Malcolm in the Middle)
Kathy Bates – Sue (Titanic, Misery, a million more)
Tyrell Jackson Williams – Jeffrey (Everybody Hates Chris)

Directed by Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon)
2006 Comedy Romance
Tagline: To leave the nest, some men just need a little push.
97 mins
Rated 12A
Paramount Pictures

I’m off to SofaWorld now to find me a man!

Summary: n/a