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Printer-Friendly ModeStar duo launches, then crashes
March 20, 2006 —
I am not happy about this. Failure to Launch is a movie riding on nothing except the popularity of its stars. Translation: don't see Failure to Launch. The only way to stop movies like this from being made is to not go see them. Just pretend they don't exist.
Failure to Launch is a story about a man named Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) who is 35 and still lives with his parents. This idea has great comedic potential. Certainly something could be built on that, right? Apparently not, if the idea rests in the hands of the creators of Failure to Launch. Instead of taking this potentially funny premise and building a solid plot around it which uses the components of a man overstaying his welcome at his parents' house, Failure to Launch sets up a plot overstating the premise at every turn and interrupting the main storyline, not with subplots that make sense and work, but with meaningless scenes that do nothing to further the film in any way.
Sarah Jessica Parker plays a woman who has found a career in getting men to move out of their parents' houses unwittingly via seduction. Here is where Failure to Launch gets lost. By including her character, who is central to the plot, much of the humor is already taken away. Not by any fault of the acting, but by the role itself. Due to her success, and through scenes depicting groups of parents discussing their sons, Tripp no longer becomes the exception, but the rule. He isn't an unusual person. In Failure to Launch, all male bachelors with sizeable roles live with their parents. Who are we to compare them to? Where is the humor now when there is nothing to distinguish them?
There must also be mention of the animal scenes. Apparently, someone decided that it would be acceptable, even funny, to include multiple scenes showing computer-generated animals attacking characters. One may ask how this could possibly fit into a romantic comedy. Failure to Launch fails to address this question. The animal scenes happen randomly, affecting the pace and cohesion of the film. It is easy to see what statement is being made by having Tripp repeatedly attacked by animals: he is living an unnatural life by prolonging his stay with his parents. This isn't difficult to decipher, but why is it necessary?
The movie was written by Matt Ember and Tom J. Astle, who up until now have only written for television. If this is the direction these two men plan to go in moviemaking, they should take their portion of the box-office earnings of Failure to Launch and retire. Director Tom Dey, noted for such gut-busters as Shanghai Noon and Showtime, must consider this his comedic magnum opus.
Failure to Launch doesn't really succeed in anything. No one will be discussing this movie five years from now. This is a stain on the resume of everyone involved. Failure to Launch should have failed to launch from pen to paper in the first place.