![]() It's a hilarious way to start out the movie. Of course we open on Joel (Rudd) and Molly (Poehler) recounting their love story to a couple of friends, over dinner. It's hard to keep the spoofing fresh, but it isn't hard for Rudd and Poehler to carry the dull parts. They're just so darned amiable that it's hard not to just sit there and smile. They're the constant in an otherwise turbulent movie. Whenever 'They Came Together' fails to achieve its goal of pointing out the joke of rom-coms, which are already a joke in and of themselves, it falls back on the shoulders of an infinitely likable duo of Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. Some of them hit, others miss, and at times the movie wades back into the very clichés it's spending so much time pointing at and laughing. At times, the desire to point out the world of rom-com flaws comes dangerously close to a movie that would be better titled 'Not Another Rom-Com Movie.' Writers Michael Showalter and David Wain throw out a barrage of spoof jokes. Sometimes it perfectly encapsulates the unbelievable romantic mush so many rom-coms wade through, and other times it loses itself in its parody-like behavior. Special guest appearance by my cat Blackjack!įriend who wrote a better review than me: Jeremiah Dollins.'They Came Together' is all about skewering the romantic comedy status quo. Nonetheless, if your boyfriend hates rom-coms and you adore them, you both might get a kick out of this very silly – also uncomfortably sexy, at times – and inventive spoof.īy the way, if you want to watch me open these presents and a few others – we always spend too much on one another – you can check that out right here. It's perfect.Īll the formulaic horseshit is exactly the point, but it comes from a place of love and admiration, not derision of the genre. Goofy montages, one-dimensional characters, brutally obvious plot directions, eye-rolling canned lines, a cut to Norah Jones actually performing a song in the middle of the movie. (Also, obviously the story is a take on Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail.) Wain called it "a deliberately terrible romantic comedy" and you can feel just how terrible he wished to make it. Showalter and Wain owe a bit to legends like Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker with the lightning pace of the humor and deadpan dialogue, and that's a style I love. But most are! I probably laughed more at this film than anything I've watched in months. I myself am a very stupid person so I deeply connected with this utterly ridiculous movie that did not go 15 seconds without a joke. How do they come back together?Įvery possible cliché and trope of rom-coms comes out with full force in this relentless parody of the beloved genre. Joel runs back to Tiffany and Molly dates her banker Eggbert (Ed Helms). Bad vibes turn good quickly, but life pulls them apart. In fact, their friends Bob (Jason Mantzoukas) and Brenda (Melanie Lynskey) were going to set them up. It's a random Halloween party where Joel and Molly finally meet, Joel convinced by his younger brother Jake (Max Greenfield) and Molly by coworker Wanda (Teyonah Parris). But when Joel catches his girlfriend Tiffany Amber Thigpen (Cobie Smulders) cheating on him with work rival Trevor (Michael Ian Black) – whose boss Roland (Christopher Meloni) gives him the big account to run – his perfect world is shattered. Joel and Molly hear from their friends about all the pros and cons of relationships and marriage, as they each represent very specific viewpoints and explain them clearly. Of course this is in New York, officially the third character in the story, playing itself. ![]() Out to dinner with unhappy married couple Kyle (Bill Hader) and Karen (Ellie Kemper), very happily coupled Joel (Paul Rudd) and Molly (Amy Poehler) tell the story of their relationship: one a clumsy single girl running a quirky candy shop and one a committed executive at a big bad candy conglomerate down the block. Both lovers and haters of romantic comedies will find plenty to enjoy in this David Wain feature co-written by Michael Showalter. Finally eight years later I got to check it out, and while it's messy and oftentimes aimless, the humor is on point and rarely unfunny. Tonight's is the rom-com spoof They Came Together, long on my watchlist after I remember reading about this comedy while I was in jail in the Summer of 2014. The second of my two Blu-ray gifts from a friend seven months ago, it's Christmas in July so I had little excuse not to rack 'em up and thank him for the fine movies. ☆ "So, if there was a movie about your relationship, it would probably start with aerial shots of the Manhattan skyline."☆
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