Matthew McConaughey has slowly become one of the go-to guys for date movies, aka chick flicks. "The Wedding Planner," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and now "Failure to Launch" have all been successful box office hits. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" broke the one hundred million dollar mark and "Failure to Launch" was not far off. McConaughey has signed on for "The Loop" with Penelope Cruz and looks to continue working on his charm. When he is not doing romantic comedies, McConaughey has not been exactly the leading man many expected him to be. He has had a string of mildly successful films such as "Edtv," "Sahara" and "Reign of Fire," but never a breakaway hit. In recent years, McConaughey has been busy and his star does seem to be rising. However, if he begins to take roles as an aging sports star, it will become apparent he is my generation´s version of Kevin Costner.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an actress I was never a fan of. I didn´t like her in HBO´s "Sex in the City," and I have never found her to be terribly attractive. There are many lovely leading ladies out there that would draw me to watch a film. She has never been one of them. In all fairness, she has never had many leading roles. "Dudley Do-Right" and "Honeymoon in Vegas" are two that come to mind. She was good in Tim Burton´s "Ed Wood" and "Mars Attacks!" Her star too seems to be rising after her long tenure in "Sex in the City" ended and after her successful turn with Matthew McConaughey in "Failure to Launch," it seems apparent that more leading roles will be coming her way.
"Failure to Launch" is a romantic comedy. There is one certainty about this genre of films and that is that the leads must have good chemistry and they must be funny, believable and cute for the film to succeed. Well, "Failure to Launch" nearly reached blockbuster status. It stopped short at the ninety million dollar mark. I´d say that is a success and the reason for this lies greatly in the arms of McConaughey and Parker. They are cute. They are funny. They are at times warm. And they have the obligatory darker side that comes through in the third act and separates them, but only until the closing moments of the film when they find that they really love each other and live happily ever after. They pull of the requisite fight and hurt in a manner that feels genuine and gives the audience enough reason to hope their characters end up together in the end.
Following the typical boy meets a girl where an underlying theme promises to break them up in the last third of the film, "Failure to Launch" doesn´t break any new ground in its storytelling. The dark underlying theme is that Sarah Jessica Parker´s character, Paula, was hired by Tripp´s (McConaughey) parents in order to get him to move out of their house. Yes, Paula is being paid by Tripp´s parents to date him. However, she breaks her business rules and falls in love with Tripp as she stumbles to get him to follow her path to success. Eventually, Tripp finds out his beloved parents Al (Terry Bradshaw) and Sue (Kathy Bates) have hired Paula and he bids their wishes in moving out, but only after letting all involved parties know he is not happy about their ruse. Paula and Tripp find themselves heartbroken, but too proud to swallow their pride and try to work things out.
McConaughey and Parker are a believable couple and their acting is what drives this film to success, but the supporting role is another strength of the film. Tripps friends are brought to life by Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper. Cooper is ´Demo,´ a man who travels the world and embraces nature. He and Tripp are two adventuresome souls, but where nature lives happily with Demo, Tripp finds himself attacked and bitten by the kindest of animals. Bartha is the geeky and backward ´Ace,´ Ace doesn´t seem to fit well with his two friends as he is awkward and far from having the adventurous spirit that his friends possess. Zooey Deschanel is the moody and mockingbird hating Kit. She is sexually starved and her black wardrobe seems to match her heart. She is the complete opposite of Paula.
Then there is Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates. Kathy Bates is always splendid. I can´t think of any role she has had where her performance was otherwise. Her role as a caring and nurturing mother who still does the laundry for her 35-year-old son seems fitting. It is a far cry from her marvelous turn as the aggressive Libby Holden in "Primary Colors" or torturous Annie Wilkes in "Misery," but she shows warmth as Tripp´s mother. Terry Bradshaw made his mark by winning a couple Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has some experience in television and provided a voice to the animated "Robots," but his last big screen role was 1981´s "The Cannonball Run." Aside from two painful moments of being forced to look at his old naked posterior, he showed fine comedic skills as Tripp´s father.
"Failure to Launch" is a good romantic comedy. It doesn´t break any new ground and the only great deviance from the standard formulas are the animal attack scenes that seem more fitting in a Tom Green movie than a successful romantic comedy. There are attacks by chipmunks, dolphins, vegetarian lizards and a mockingbird. The scenes feel a bit off for the film, but I did laugh hard during the chipmunk battle. Tripp´s living at home and Paula´s profession offer enough variance from the normal storylines to keep things entertaining. Sure, you know the basic arc that will eventually unfold, but getting there is still a lot of fun. McConaughey and Parker take another step towards being bankable names on the silver screen and they deserve the success found after their performances in this picture.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an actress I was never a fan of. I didn´t like her in HBO´s "Sex in the City," and I have never found her to be terribly attractive. There are many lovely leading ladies out there that would draw me to watch a film. She has never been one of them. In all fairness, she has never had many leading roles. "Dudley Do-Right" and "Honeymoon in Vegas" are two that come to mind. She was good in Tim Burton´s "Ed Wood" and "Mars Attacks!" Her star too seems to be rising after her long tenure in "Sex in the City" ended and after her successful turn with Matthew McConaughey in "Failure to Launch," it seems apparent that more leading roles will be coming her way.
"Failure to Launch" is a romantic comedy. There is one certainty about this genre of films and that is that the leads must have good chemistry and they must be funny, believable and cute for the film to succeed. Well, "Failure to Launch" nearly reached blockbuster status. It stopped short at the ninety million dollar mark. I´d say that is a success and the reason for this lies greatly in the arms of McConaughey and Parker. They are cute. They are funny. They are at times warm. And they have the obligatory darker side that comes through in the third act and separates them, but only until the closing moments of the film when they find that they really love each other and live happily ever after. They pull of the requisite fight and hurt in a manner that feels genuine and gives the audience enough reason to hope their characters end up together in the end.
Following the typical boy meets a girl where an underlying theme promises to break them up in the last third of the film, "Failure to Launch" doesn´t break any new ground in its storytelling. The dark underlying theme is that Sarah Jessica Parker´s character, Paula, was hired by Tripp´s (McConaughey) parents in order to get him to move out of their house. Yes, Paula is being paid by Tripp´s parents to date him. However, she breaks her business rules and falls in love with Tripp as she stumbles to get him to follow her path to success. Eventually, Tripp finds out his beloved parents Al (Terry Bradshaw) and Sue (Kathy Bates) have hired Paula and he bids their wishes in moving out, but only after letting all involved parties know he is not happy about their ruse. Paula and Tripp find themselves heartbroken, but too proud to swallow their pride and try to work things out.
McConaughey and Parker are a believable couple and their acting is what drives this film to success, but the supporting role is another strength of the film. Tripps friends are brought to life by Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper. Cooper is ´Demo,´ a man who travels the world and embraces nature. He and Tripp are two adventuresome souls, but where nature lives happily with Demo, Tripp finds himself attacked and bitten by the kindest of animals. Bartha is the geeky and backward ´Ace,´ Ace doesn´t seem to fit well with his two friends as he is awkward and far from having the adventurous spirit that his friends possess. Zooey Deschanel is the moody and mockingbird hating Kit. She is sexually starved and her black wardrobe seems to match her heart. She is the complete opposite of Paula.
Then there is Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates. Kathy Bates is always splendid. I can´t think of any role she has had where her performance was otherwise. Her role as a caring and nurturing mother who still does the laundry for her 35-year-old son seems fitting. It is a far cry from her marvelous turn as the aggressive Libby Holden in "Primary Colors" or torturous Annie Wilkes in "Misery," but she shows warmth as Tripp´s mother. Terry Bradshaw made his mark by winning a couple Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has some experience in television and provided a voice to the animated "Robots," but his last big screen role was 1981´s "The Cannonball Run." Aside from two painful moments of being forced to look at his old naked posterior, he showed fine comedic skills as Tripp´s father.
"Failure to Launch" is a good romantic comedy. It doesn´t break any new ground and the only great deviance from the standard formulas are the animal attack scenes that seem more fitting in a Tom Green movie than a successful romantic comedy. There are attacks by chipmunks, dolphins, vegetarian lizards and a mockingbird. The scenes feel a bit off for the film, but I did laugh hard during the chipmunk battle. Tripp´s living at home and Paula´s profession offer enough variance from the normal storylines to keep things entertaining. Sure, you know the basic arc that will eventually unfold, but getting there is still a lot of fun. McConaughey and Parker take another step towards being bankable names on the silver screen and they deserve the success found after their performances in this picture.
Matthew McConaughey has slowly become one of the go-to guys for date movies, aka chick flicks. "The Wedding Planner," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and now "Failure to Launch" have all been successful box office hits. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" broke the one hundred million dollar mark and "Failure to Launch" was not far off. McConaughey has signed on for "The Loop" with Penelope Cruz and looks to continue working on his charm. When he is not doing romantic comedies, McConaughey has not been exactly the leading man many expected him to be. He has had a string of mildly successful films such as "Edtv," "Sahara" and "Reign of Fire," but never a breakaway hit. In recent years, McConaughey has been busy and his star does seem to be rising. However, if he begins to take roles as an aging sports star, it will become apparent he is my generation´s version of Kevin Costner.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an actress I was never a fan of. I didn´t like her in HBO´s "Sex in the City," and I have never found her to be terribly attractive. There are many lovely leading ladies out there that would draw me to watch a film. She has never been one of them. In all fairness, she has never had many leading roles. "Dudley Do-Right" and "Honeymoon in Vegas" are two that come to mind. She was good in Tim Burton´s "Ed Wood" and "Mars Attacks!" Her star too seems to be rising after her long tenure in "Sex in the City" ended and after her successful turn with Matthew McConaughey in "Failure to Launch," it seems apparent that more leading roles will be coming her way.
"Failure to Launch" is a romantic comedy. There is one certainty about this genre of films and that is that the leads must have good chemistry and they must be funny, believable and cute for the film to succeed. Well, "Failure to Launch" nearly reached blockbuster status. It stopped short at the ninety million dollar mark. I´d say that is a success and the reason for this lies greatly in the arms of McConaughey and Parker. They are cute. They are funny. They are at times warm. And they have the obligatory darker side that comes through in the third act and separates them, but only until the closing moments of the film when they find that they really love each other and live happily ever after. They pull of the requisite fight and hurt in a manner that feels genuine and gives the audience enough reason to hope their characters end up together in the end.
Following the typical boy meets a girl where an underlying theme promises to break them up in the last third of the film, "Failure to Launch" doesn´t break any new ground in its storytelling. The dark underlying theme is that Sarah Jessica Parker´s character, Paula, was hired by Tripp´s (McConaughey) parents in order to get him to move out of their house. Yes, Paula is being paid by Tripp´s parents to date him. However, she breaks her business rules and falls in love with Tripp as she stumbles to get him to follow her path to success. Eventually, Tripp finds out his beloved parents Al (Terry Bradshaw) and Sue (Kathy Bates) have hired Paula and he bids their wishes in moving out, but only after letting all involved parties know he is not happy about their ruse. Paula and Tripp find themselves heartbroken, but too proud to swallow their pride and try to work things out.
McConaughey and Parker are a believable couple and their acting is what drives this film to success, but the supporting role is another strength of the film. Tripps friends are brought to life by Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper. Cooper is ´Demo,´ a man who travels the world and embraces nature. He and Tripp are two adventuresome souls, but where nature lives happily with Demo, Tripp finds himself attacked and bitten by the kindest of animals. Bartha is the geeky and backward ´Ace,´ Ace doesn´t seem to fit well with his two friends as he is awkward and far from having the adventurous spirit that his friends possess. Zooey Deschanel is the moody and mockingbird hating Kit. She is sexually starved and her black wardrobe seems to match her heart. She is the complete opposite of Paula.
Then there is Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates. Kathy Bates is always splendid. I can´t think of any role she has had where her performance was otherwise. Her role as a caring and nurturing mother who still does the laundry for her 35-year-old son seems fitting. It is a far cry from her marvelous turn as the aggressive Libby Holden in "Primary Colors" or torturous Annie Wilkes in "Misery," but she shows warmth as Tripp´s mother. Terry Bradshaw made his mark by winning a couple Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has some experience in television and provided a voice to the animated "Robots," but his last big screen role was 1981´s "The Cannonball Run." Aside from two painful moments of being forced to look at his old naked posterior, he showed fine comedic skills as Tripp´s father.
"Failure to Launch" is a good romantic comedy. It doesn´t break any new ground and the only great deviance from the standard formulas are the animal attack scenes that seem more fitting in a Tom Green movie than a successful romantic comedy. There are attacks by chipmunks, dolphins, vegetarian lizards and a mockingbird. The scenes feel a bit off for the film, but I did laugh hard during the chipmunk battle. Tripp´s living at home and Paula´s profession offer enough variance from the normal storylines to keep things entertaining. Sure, you know the basic arc that will eventually unfold, but getting there is still a lot of fun. McConaughey and Parker take another step towards being bankable names on the silver screen and they deserve the success found after their performances in this picture.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an actress I was never a fan of. I didn´t like her in HBO´s "Sex in the City," and I have never found her to be terribly attractive. There are many lovely leading ladies out there that would draw me to watch a film. She has never been one of them. In all fairness, she has never had many leading roles. "Dudley Do-Right" and "Honeymoon in Vegas" are two that come to mind. She was good in Tim Burton´s "Ed Wood" and "Mars Attacks!" Her star too seems to be rising after her long tenure in "Sex in the City" ended and after her successful turn with Matthew McConaughey in "Failure to Launch," it seems apparent that more leading roles will be coming her way.
"Failure to Launch" is a romantic comedy. There is one certainty about this genre of films and that is that the leads must have good chemistry and they must be funny, believable and cute for the film to succeed. Well, "Failure to Launch" nearly reached blockbuster status. It stopped short at the ninety million dollar mark. I´d say that is a success and the reason for this lies greatly in the arms of McConaughey and Parker. They are cute. They are funny. They are at times warm. And they have the obligatory darker side that comes through in the third act and separates them, but only until the closing moments of the film when they find that they really love each other and live happily ever after. They pull of the requisite fight and hurt in a manner that feels genuine and gives the audience enough reason to hope their characters end up together in the end.
Following the typical boy meets a girl where an underlying theme promises to break them up in the last third of the film, "Failure to Launch" doesn´t break any new ground in its storytelling. The dark underlying theme is that Sarah Jessica Parker´s character, Paula, was hired by Tripp´s (McConaughey) parents in order to get him to move out of their house. Yes, Paula is being paid by Tripp´s parents to date him. However, she breaks her business rules and falls in love with Tripp as she stumbles to get him to follow her path to success. Eventually, Tripp finds out his beloved parents Al (Terry Bradshaw) and Sue (Kathy Bates) have hired Paula and he bids their wishes in moving out, but only after letting all involved parties know he is not happy about their ruse. Paula and Tripp find themselves heartbroken, but too proud to swallow their pride and try to work things out.
McConaughey and Parker are a believable couple and their acting is what drives this film to success, but the supporting role is another strength of the film. Tripps friends are brought to life by Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper. Cooper is ´Demo,´ a man who travels the world and embraces nature. He and Tripp are two adventuresome souls, but where nature lives happily with Demo, Tripp finds himself attacked and bitten by the kindest of animals. Bartha is the geeky and backward ´Ace,´ Ace doesn´t seem to fit well with his two friends as he is awkward and far from having the adventurous spirit that his friends possess. Zooey Deschanel is the moody and mockingbird hating Kit. She is sexually starved and her black wardrobe seems to match her heart. She is the complete opposite of Paula.
Then there is Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates. Kathy Bates is always splendid. I can´t think of any role she has had where her performance was otherwise. Her role as a caring and nurturing mother who still does the laundry for her 35-year-old son seems fitting. It is a far cry from her marvelous turn as the aggressive Libby Holden in "Primary Colors" or torturous Annie Wilkes in "Misery," but she shows warmth as Tripp´s mother. Terry Bradshaw made his mark by winning a couple Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has some experience in television and provided a voice to the animated "Robots," but his last big screen role was 1981´s "The Cannonball Run." Aside from two painful moments of being forced to look at his old naked posterior, he showed fine comedic skills as Tripp´s father.
"Failure to Launch" is a good romantic comedy. It doesn´t break any new ground and the only great deviance from the standard formulas are the animal attack scenes that seem more fitting in a Tom Green movie than a successful romantic comedy. There are attacks by chipmunks, dolphins, vegetarian lizards and a mockingbird. The scenes feel a bit off for the film, but I did laugh hard during the chipmunk battle. Tripp´s living at home and Paula´s profession offer enough variance from the normal storylines to keep things entertaining. Sure, you know the basic arc that will eventually unfold, but getting there is still a lot of fun. McConaughey and Parker take another step towards being bankable names on the silver screen and they deserve the success found after their performances in this picture.
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