I’m a big fan of Owen Wilson (loved Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights). Kate Hudson is always good and Matt Dillon has flexed his acting prowess recently (most notably in Crash). So, despite the uninviting plotline, I bit.

Although it ends well (or at least pretty good), the film can’t seem to make spark in its bulk. During the first half, I laughed twice. I remember thinking to myself, “This is a comedy -- right?” I suppose, given Hudson and Dillon, we could have expected a romantic comedy -- but if there was romance, it was slim picking’s, despite capable acting. In fact, the production value of the film is very high. Smooth direction, slick editing, good actors. But, still the film just does not come alive. I suspect the script. Just where was this funny? Once Owen gets hit by a car, it’s a cheap gag, very cheap -- but I laughed. Perhaps all involved were counting on Wilson to make it all funny somehow. Wilson was fine, he wasn’t less himself, again I’d look at the script.

I’m a little bias in that, I don’t really like pictures that rely on one character’s annoyances to provide the dramatic energy to move a picture along. While there is another plotline (namely the father-in-law), it’s really the third-wheel Wilson disrupting the happy young couple that is supposed to propel the picture. In fact, the only major plot point is that instead of Dillon being the sap that helps out Wilson, it becomes Hudson.

Overall, I found the plot progressions ridiculous and frustrating. So with little to no humor to distract me, I became bored and agitated, and if this couple wasn’t going to kick the pain in the butt from their house -- I was going to leave the theatre and get the frusttration out of my day. But I didn’t. With this much production value, I predicted some pay off in the end. I knew it probably wasn’t going to be enough, but I deserved it nonetheless. And yes, there was pay off and though cluttered with some ridiculousness, it was pretty good. But, an hour and twenty minutes worth of non-entertaining cinema is something even a great climax couldn’t make up for.

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