MOVIE REVIEW - Wanderlust

Funny man Paul Rudd, and former Friend Jennifer Aniston star in the new off beat comedy, Wanderlust.

Meet George (Rudd) and Linda (Aniston), they live in New York City. He works at a job he hates in an office. She has never committed to any job in her life. They are married, and buy this small studio apartment they really can't afford. George then loses his job, and Linda's latest self employment scheme goes wrong, and they lose their new home.

The couple decides to move to Atlanta to live with George's moronic brother. After that goes wrong, they end up living at this old hippie commune in northern Georgia with a bunch of leftover, and young hippies for lack of better term. This commune practices free love, veganism, they drink hallucinogenics, and live off the land. Our couple has tried everything else, so they decide to try this life for two weeks.

So they move in with this group and try hard to adapt to this very foreign lifestyle. Can they adjust? Will they fit in? And is this off beat time warp of a place just the thing they need to get their life back on track? Well, of course it is, or you wouldn't have a movie to begin with. And that's a problem here. You know the end, at the beginning.

There are some pretty awkward, and funny laughs in this movie. But sadly, that's not enough. Wanderlust has some creative elements to it, but in the end it sells out to cheap laugh atttempts and overall grossness that really isn't necessary. Or maybe it is. This movie making troupe is simply committed to shock value in much of it's content. Full nudity of numerous people, young and old that simply know one of the planet wants to see naked. Tons of bathroom humor, and vile language that cheapens it horribly.

What we think is funny is always evolving, and that's nothing new. For rare exceptions, things that were funny, 20, 30, 40 or more years ago is not funny with us today. But, this is the style of movie making that seems to resonating mightily with many in this era. It is no longer acceptable to just be funny. It must be shocking, and gross to draw laughs out of it's core audience. But maybe not here. Wanderlust is a huge bomb at the box office. Not even sinking to the lowest common denominator can save this.

Rudd is a funny guy. He weaves between good movies and bad. I think he's generally funny, and easy to watch, but here he's really not much of anything. Pretty bland character. Aniston continues to limp along with flop after flop. Many are getting the sense that even though she is beautiful and well liked by those who are trying to still like her from her successful Friends days, this proves it can be a long way to the bottem. I can only assume that she doesn't mind, and continues to cash the checks. It's a shame she can't land a role has meaning, and that has a decent script.

Wanderlust. A laugh here and there, then there's the rest of this. Borderline pitiful.