I put on Failure to Launch because I was looking for (and I quote) a “dumb and cosy movie”. Did I get what I was looking for? Yeah, pretty much.
Failure to Launch sure is dumb, but it also has this undeniable cosiness that I find you can really only get from early 2000s comedies. There’s something about them that I always find very comforting. I put them on when I’m feeling ill, I put them on when I’m feeling sad. They always remind me of a simpler time (probably because in the early 2000s I was only a really young child). I got exactly what I was looking for with this flick.
Failure to Launch was made back when Matthew McConaughey and SJP were both still firmly in their respective rom-com phases. The whole premise is that Tripp (McConaughey) is a guy still living at home with his parents. The problem? He’s thirty-something, and despite being successful and perfectly able to live on his own, he simply doesn’t want to.
What do his parents do? Well, they would do what any loving parents would in the situation – instead of getting Tripp the therapy he needs to deal with the psychological baggage that is causing him to want to stay home (something about a dead fiancée or girlfriend), they hire a woman named Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to engage in a fake relationship to give him the confidence to move out of home. Or something like that.
See what I mean when I said that this movie was kind of dumb?
I wonder if Paula’s job is an actual career you can have. Can you even imagine trying to put that on your resume? How would you find an advertisement for that?
Anyway, apparently young men failing to move out is called “failure to launch” (which is a real thing, btw). It’s solved by a romantic relationship, of course. According to this film, that’s the only thing that would give a man a reason to move out of home.
The storyline is silly, and so are the characters. They are all just the same tropes that were floating around in every movie made around this time – Tripp is a hot slacker, Paula is a hot career woman, Tripp and Paula both have hot comic-relief friends.
Tripp’s friends are Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha. I know those aren’t their actual names, but the fact that I can’t remember their names AT ALL even though I’ve seen this movie TWICE in my life probably tells you enough about how little character development these guys have. Bradley Cooper lives at home in a basement, although he never receives the same failure to launch treatment as Tripp. Justin Bartha doesn’t live at home. Both provide dumb advice and even dumber wisecracks to Tripp throughout the course of the movie.
Paula’s friend is Kit (Zooey Deschannel). She’s just playing the exact same character that she’s ever played (that’s really all the information you need). She and Justin Bartha get together at the end of the film despite the fact she hates him for apparently no reason.
But what of the main characters? This is a rom-com after all, so do Tripp and Paula get together? Yeah, of course they do. They have their typical rom-com problems – after falling for Paula like she intentioned, Tripp finds out that it was just a job for her. But wait! It’s become more than just a job for her, and she loves him now! How will they ever get over this misunderstanding?
Well, look. I normally don’t like to spoil too much about the endings of movies, but the ending of Failure to Launch is batshit insane so I have to talk about it. Their friends trap the couple in Justin’s house with cameras recording everything they say and do. The friends watch what is happening on a laptop in the café, but so many people are interested in what is going on that they end up broadcasting it on big TV screens. Everyone applauds when the couple inevitably get back together. What the fuck??? How is that possibly a situation conducive to romance???
Like most things in the film, it’s played for a laugh, but like most things in the film, it’s painfully unfunny. They also don’t really have heaps of chemistry, Tripp and Paula. A shame. Zooey Deschannel and Justin Bartha don’t either. For a rom-com it’s pretty light on both the rom and the com, unfortunately.
There are a lot of slapstick jokes in the film, and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s slapstick. For some reason there’s a scene where a chipmunk attacks Tripp, and then later on he gets attacked by a dolphin. Why does he keep getting attacked by animals?
Aah look, I got what I wanted with this film. It was very cosy, and I felt very calm after watching it.
McConaughey is good enough in this role. He really could have just fucked around making these kinds of films for the rest of his life and staying comfortable, but thankfully for us he chose to take on better projects. SJP is also likeable as well, and despite her character having a really unbelievable job, I like the fact that she’s pretty independent and always in control of the situation.
The other actors are fine, really. Nothing to write home about. A particular mention to Kathy Bates as Tripp’s poor long-suffering mother, who keeps having to do all of his chores for him despite her asking him every day to pull his weight. JUST DO YOUR DAMN LAUNDRY, TRIPP!
So, should you watch Failure to Launch? Yeah, if you’re looking for something uncomplicated that will cheer you up on a bad day. Failure to Launch isn’t a failure of a movie, but I’m certainly glad that it was one of the last projects that McConaughey did like this, and he moved on to more interesting things.
BEST BITS
- McConaughey’s charisma. He makes even the dullest lines and the worst jokes entertaining.
WORST BITS
- The meet-cute between Paula and Tripp is so weird. SJP comes to a recliner store to relax? Is your life that hectic?
- The fact that it’s considered weird to live at home with your parents. I know 2006 was a different time, but in 2021 it’s almost normal for young people to still be at home.
- That Justin Bartha isn’t in more things because I genuinely like him as an actor.
FINAL RATING: 5/10
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