Two recently unemployed New Yorkers fed up with the rat race, decide to throw it all to the wind and embrace living in a hippie commune. Wanderlust starts out really well. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston are George and Linda, two yuppie types that play uptight really well. They embody a perfect combination: likable but still fussy enough that we can still take delight when bad things happen to them. Before Linda’s depressing documentary about wildlife is rejected by HBO, she pitches it as An Inconvenient Truth meets March of the Penguins. That’s clever – and part of a brilliant beginning. After losing their jobs they hightail it to George’s brother’s house to stay at while they get their bearings. On the way they spend the night in a rural “intentional community” and they’re embraced by the society within. Up until now, the comedy has a relaxed vibe with some fairly amusing shenanigans concerning hippies and the countercultural lifestyle. George’s brother turns out to be a real jerk so they decide to return to the collective they remembered so fondly. Predictably, things don’t go as smoothly as before. Here’s where the script loses momentum.
Instead of a fully formed storyline proceeding to a satisfying conclusion, we get one dubious skit after another, none of which are particularly funny. The humor grows childish and immature. Paul Rudd uncomfortably sitting a toilet while people chat with him like he’s in the living room is an example of a simple-minded sight gag, not wit. The narrative is directionless, without a point. There’s a scene in which George, staring in a mirror, is trying to psych himself up for sex he doesn’t want to have. He begins speaking in this bizarre hillbilly accent about how he wants to be with the woman in question. It’s just Paul Rudd, freely ad-libbing for 5 minutes. The resulting soliloquy is one of the most pathetic and embarrassing moments I have witnessed an actor I respect do. Imagine Elmer Fudd talking about his penis and you’ll get the idea. These are jokes aimed at children who just learned the mechanics of how men and women procreate. The film is two distinct halves, the initial part that seems focused and purposeful to an end and a subsequent one that is an aimless series of moronic skits. Two stars for the promising first half and no stars for the second.
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