Why I Saw It: I only had a small window of time to see a movie. This was in that window and I'd heard some ok things about it from Sundance.
Cast: Jack Black is playing a mix between his characters from Envy, Bernie, and some other movie that I'm forgetting about. James Marsden is super relaxed. I can't think of a similar role, but it's oddly familiar for him. Kathryn Hahn is kind of the nagging wife role. Jeffrey Tambor gets an uncomplex role that's not so dissimilar from Hank Kingsley. What I'm trying to say is that no one has to stretch his or herself. There's several other familiar faces of the "indie movie using TV people" mold.
Plot: Dan (Black) is the "chairperson" of his high school reunion. He has a family: a wife (Hahn), a teenage son, and a baby. He's one of those guys who never moved away from his home town and never quite left high school. People don't like him, and honestly, there's a reason for that. Not every social reject is misunderstood. Some just aren't likable people. He sees a national commercial with a guy from his high school class (Marsden) in it and decides that if he can get this guy to go to the reunion, people will like him. There's kind of a big twist in this that is better to go in cold about, but I can say that Dan tracks down this classmate and convinces him to go to the reunion. This don't go smoothly though,
Elephant in the Room: What the big twist? Ok, you asked for it. Well, Dan tracks this guy down to L.A. and ends up having sex with him. It's unexpected and drives all the conflict after that. Sadly, I already knew about it going in, so I can't say if that surprise would've helped the movie. It certainly did need help though.
To Sum Things Up:
I didn't like this movie, plain and simple. Black's character is unlikable. Black plays him well, but every single decision Black makes until the third act is wrong and unjustifiable. I can't root for that protagonist, and I really need to. The script works very hard to get to the big surprise and doesn't do anything interesting with the fallout. Perhaps with time to appreciate what the movie was trying to do, I'll come to appreciate it more. For now, I just want to recommend that anyone considering it avoid it*.
*And if you still see it anyway and end up liking it, please explain why. I want to know what I missed.
Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend
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