The body-swap.  It’s an old favorite, been around since time immemorial.  Like Father Like Son, Prelude To A Kiss, The Hot Chick, 18 Again (not to be confused with 17 Again, which is a teen-again thing.  Totes diff.)  And let’s not forget Freaky Friday, Freaky Friday,  and, of course, Freaky Friday.  Can you merge the fratty humor of The Hangover with a body-swap story and make it fun to watch?  With The Change-Up, that’s a yep, you bet.

Dave Lockwood is a Type A lawyer in hyperdrive.  He works, lives and even sleeps according to a set of rules so tight it’s a wonder he’s got time to use the bathroom.  Oh wait, he kinda doesn’t.  Mitch Planko is an over 30 Man/Boy who couldn’t grow up if his life depended on it.  His life consists of morning bong hits, “acting gigs” (a.k.a. blissful unemployment) and bangin’ anything with hooters in a 5 mile radius.  Felix and Oscar…sorry, Dave and Mitch, have been besties since 3rd Grade, even though they appear to be opposites.  So when they’re peeing in a fountain one night (because that’s just what guys do) and wish for each other’s lives…bammo!  Just be careful what you wish for, fellas.

Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds do a fantastic job here.  Bateman and Reynolds are able to switch from one character to the other easily, and it looks like they’re having a ball doing it.  Bateman gets to bust out of his usual good-guy cookiecutter role when he’s Mitch-as-Dave, and it’s fun to watch him whip out his Arrested Development dry humor.  Reynolds takes the party boy Mitch and jumps the characterization into hyperdrive, poking fun at men that don’t wanna grow up.  He also has fun with the whole idea of unemployed/underemployed actors; a scene with Dave-as-Mitch at a “big break” for Mitch is horrifying and hilarious at the same time.  It’s a perfect blend of low humor and slapstick, and Reynolds pulls it off without a hitch.

Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens, House) plays the requisite wet dream co-worker, law associate Sabrina McArdle, and thanks to her talent (yes she’s got actual talent fellas; stop drooling at her for a sec and you’ll notice) she’s able to give Sabrina a wry sense of humor and dash of bad-girl mojo that plays well with the character’s lawyer day job.  Wilde is believable as an associate in a high powered firm, unlike some other high-brainpower characters in other movies I oculd mention (*cough*DeniseRichardsIsNoPhysicist*cough*).  Leslie Mann (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) plays Dave’s wife Jamie, and she gives a her no-holds-barred comedic performanc that amps up what could have been a token MILF role.  Like Anna Farris, Mann will do anything for a laugh, and as anyone who has seen the trailer for this movie will know, she’s got no problem goin’ there this time.

A big part of the enjoyment in The Change-Up lies in the vicarious thrill of watching someone completely and totally fuck with the established norms of life.  Watching Mitch-as-Dave, plowing through meetings with a potty mouth and a mind like a sailor on shore leave; haven’t we all wanted to go all Office Space at one time or another?  (Except for me.  I love my job.  LOVE it.  Hi, boss.)  The Change-Up gives us the release we crave after swallowing our real thoughts one too many times.  And Mitch is glorious in his complete and utter inappropriateness.  He tells Dave’s little girl to “always solve  your problems with violence”.  He says one of Dave’s babies looks “a little Downsy” and that he’s gonna “wreck” Dave’s wife.  He puts on an “Asian” accent when he talks to high-powered Chinese businessmen, and tells them they should all go out for sushi and ka-ray-o-kay.  Sure, the “real Dave” would get canned, and probably sued for divorce.  But who cares?  It’s a fantasy, and he’s our id, unchained.  As for Dave-as-Mitch, he gets to live the married guy’s dream; booze, boobies, sleeping in and a bathroom all to himself.  He turns Mitch into a more user-friendly version, call him Mitch.2.  And with Mitch-as-Dave running off the leash, it’s a nice balance to see Dave get a first look at himself as Mitch and scream, “I’m a douchebag!”

Of course Dave and Mitch realize that there’s no place like home, and life is best when you balance responsibility and fun.  The bottom line of all body-swap movies is that your own life is your best life, be all you can be, carpe diem, yada yada.  Just like slasher flicks, body-swap stories are the closest thing we get to morality plays nowadays.  If this ain’t your first time to the rodeo, you know how it’s gonna play out right from the start.  The Change-Up doesn’t say anything new, and doesn’t go in any unexpected directions.  It’s here to entertain you, and it does the job admirably.  If you’re looking for more from this film?  Well, maybe you didn’t get enough love in your childhood.

The Switch blends a potent mix of family, friendship, and emotions.  Unfortunately this film is being sold as a laugh out loud romantic comedy – so something is awry.  Can you deal with accidental artificial insemination between lifelong friends and keep a light hearted whimsical comedy afloat?  One thing’s for sure, you’ll never look at Diane Sawyer the same way again.

Jennifer Aniston (The Good Girl) returns to the screen as Kassie Larsen, a 40+ year old New York City single gal with a thriving career, financial stability and a deep longing to be a Mommy.  Sidling her is Wally (Jason Bateman – Dodgeball), her neurotic best friend with a less than optimistic view of life.  With no man of a romantic nature in her life, Kassie decides that insemination is her only way to procreate.  Wally, in a drunken haze, swaps his ‘male ingredients’ prior to inception and essentially hijacks her pregnancy.  Seven years later, Kassie returns to New York with her son Sebastian who seemingly shares the same phobia’s and nuance’s that drive Wally’s neurosis.  Since Wally has no memory of the night of his misdeed, he dismisses the similarities and instead focuses on Kassie’s budding new relationship with Roland (Patrick Wilson – Lakeview Terrace), a recent divorcee on the rebound who years earlier donated his sperm to Kassie.   Wally begins to shed his pessimistic ideology through the relationship with Sebastian, and opens himself to the possibilities of life.  As their growth progresses, Wally discovers his true feelings for Kassie and the mind jarring recall of his ‘swap’ seven years ago.

The film is truly endearing and works so much better as a romantic drama.  Sure it has splashes of laughs, every relational comedic effort does, but the subject matter is too serious to be funny.   A stolen insemination, a rebound relationship with a character that appears to be suppressing some major rage issues – the subject matter is tense.  Watching Roland, you get the feeling his terse suppression of feelings is going to manifest itself in a ‘postal’ way.   The softer side is the familial growth by Wally & Sebastian.  You want Wally to come out of his shell, you relish in the scenes where Sebastian and Wally unknowingly mimic each other’s habits, and how each uses the other to become a more outward soul – their camaraderie really feels good.  The same can’t be said for Kassie’s rebound relationship with Roland.  Jilted by his ex-wife due to sexual indiscretions on her part, obvious anger smoldering under the surface, it’s unbelievable that Kassie would be in a relationship with someone like this and it was uncomfortable to watch his character as ‘curve balls’ in the form of Wally’s eventual confessed love, realization that he is not Sebastian’s biological father, and the obvious embarrassment of an attempted proposal to Kassie squashed by Wally.  With subject matter this entwined in a trio of complicated lives, it’s no surprise this film comes from the producers of Juno & Little Miss Sunshine (both excellently written and executed dramas)

Serving as Wally’s confidant and moral compass is Leonard, Wally’s boss and a three-time divorcee serving up advice with the dexterity and aloofness only Jeff Goldblum could deliver.  Slightly smug, a bit oblivious, and solid in delivery, he delivers once again.   Kassie’s BFF counterpart Debbie (Juliette Lewis – Strange Days) is aptly portrayed.  No stranger to oddball roles, Lewis seems out of place in this supporting role.  I’ve grown accustomed to her portraying drugged out teens, coke’d up musicians, and even a serial killer – something as subdued as a supportive best friend just looks strange.  I confess, I’ve had a school boy crush on her since 1993’s Kalifornia, so it was good to see her on screen again.

The Switch does a solid job of showing you the eccentricities of life in bustling New York City, it even manages to make you care about its lead characters and the growth paths they take – what it doesn’t do is make you comfortable laughing throughout the film at the comic bits when the film is laced with such dramatic undertones and moments of awkward awakenings.  Aniston and Bateman’s chemistry is totally believable and it was refreshing to see her looks played down as not to overshadow the film.  Newcomer Thomas Robinson (Sebastian) should be lauded for his performance – he executed in a believable and aesthetically pleasing manner.  His performance complemented Bateman flawlessly and watching the two on screen was complete joy.

On a final note – if Aniston’s character was 40+ at the time of insemination, and Wally circles back to her 7 years later, just how old is she?  Apparently 50…and fabulous!

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Switch is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexual material including dialogue, some nudity, drug use and language.

Today at Comic-Con saw less news, but much more high-profile announcements. Most of the action took place in Hall H, which was bogged down with some serious line management problems, but we’ve got it all summed up right here for you.

The first big presentation of the day was from Warner Bros. First, the first footage from Green Lantern was screened. Although nothing spectacular, the fans enjoyed it overall, but were disappointed with the lack of Reynolds in the suit. This only confirms the fact that the suit is a work-in-progress. Still, I am looking forward to this film and hope that it can be a simple, fun superhero origin story, which we haven’t seen a lot of recently. Also, I’m looking forward to the more fantastical elements of the hero. Producer Donald DeLine said that many other Green Lanterns are featured and that the movie is part space opera, which is a good sign that they’re not ignoring that area of the Green Lantern mythos. And although the Green Lantern announcements are cool, DC has really not stepped up their game to challenge Marvel’s cinematic dominance. Geoff Johns is now in charge of their creative decisions moving forward, which is a great move, but the company has not centralized their film properties as Marvel has to such enormous success. Also, there was no word on Batman, which was a huge missed opportunity. Still, I’m hoping that after Green Lantern DC gets their act together and makes something great, maybe a Justice League movie? (Although I’m torn on whether or not Chris Nolan’s Batman should be a part of anything like that.) After a short Harry Potter trailer and panel, Zack Snyder came onstage for Sucker Punch. This new movie is based on his idea and stars an ensemble cast of women who are breaking out of a mental institution and includes Carla Gugino, Jamie Chung, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone and Emily Browning. I’m not sure what to think about this movie, but the footage got a fantastic reception and it sounds truly unique. Hopefully the trailer gets released online soon so we all can see it.

Let Me In, the American remake of the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In, has had an enormous 360 when it comes to the public’s view. After a period of resenting the fact that such a movie was being remade, it seems like every detractor has been shut up by footage from the upcoming movie. I know I wasn’t too excited for this, but now its definitely on my radar. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield), from what I can tell, is doing a fantastic job helming the movie. He talked about how Steven Spielberg gave him tips for interacting with young actors, and that is what has me most excited for this film. Both Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Chloe Grace Moretz ((500) Days of Summer, Kick-Ass) have a lot of potential to give amazing performances and I hope they both pull it off. Check out this trailer for the film:

At this point, Hall H screeched to a halt after a fight broke out. It’s still unclear what actually happened, but the prevailing rumor is that someone asked another guy to move and when he didn’t, he stabbed him in the face with a pen. That’s speculation, but the scene was pretty grisly with blood everywhere and the victim being taken out on a stretcher, all with 8 or 9 cops in the vicinity.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost then introduced their new film, Paul. In the movie, the duo travel to Comic-Con and then embark on a road trip to Roswell, New Mexico. On the way they meet an alien named Paul, who is voiced by Seth Rogen. Paul is directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad) and the supporting cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman, and Jeffrey Tambor. I am really looking forward to this movie as Pegg and Frost are consistently hilarious and the story is pretty original. Paul is not your typical alien – he basically thinks of himself as an everyday Joe. Road trips are always pretty fun so having one with this trio of comedians and an alien should be awesome.

Once again Jon Favreau showed his skill at captivating the geek demographic by creating huge anticipation for Cowboys & Aliens, his new movie starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, and Sam Rockwell. Although the idea is great, it takes skill to blend such two very different genres, but Favreau is going for a very Western feel. After explaining that he is trying to emulate the Sergio Leone/John Ford films of the 40s and 50s, while using practical effects from the 80s as well as CGI for the aliens, he decided to just screen some early footage. Although the crew has only been shooting for three weeks, attendees were very impressed by the scene. In a surprise appearance, Harrison Ford was brought on stage in handcuffs by two security guards. It was his first appearance at the convention and the crowd went nuts. This a natural reaction, of course, to the man who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, as well as many other awesome characters. I hope Favreau can really nail the Western feel and deliver a really fun, interesting film due out next summer, July 29th.

Now the presentation you’ve all been waiting for: Marvel. What Marvel is doing with their properties on film is incredible. By going independent and forming Marvel Studios where writers can collaborate and come up with great, interlocking stories for all of their superheroes, the company shows that it knows what its doing. Hopefully the result will be incredible, but there are a lot of moving parts, and all of them must come together perfectly. Captain America was first, as a short teaser showed Chris Evans in full costume throwing the iconic shield at the camera. After some discussion, the filmmakers actually had some footage to show which involved Hugo Weaving as Red Skull searching for an artifact that has something to do with Odin. I really like the Indiana Jones/World War II period piece vibe I’m getting for this movie. I hope Joe Johnston can create a very good atmosphere and seeing Cap killing Nazis is going to be sweet. Next up was Thor, which is much farther into production. A lot of footage was shown, and I can’t wait to see the trailer. Apparently the costumes are not nearly as cheesy as they looked in the first images we were shown. Reactions were very positive, which is a relief. Finally, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige brought on The Avengers. After years of rumors, this movie is finally actually happening. The final lineup was announced: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman/Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Donald Blake/Thor, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk (see the full cast in the photo from the event). It’s going to be insane seeing so many heroes on screen at the same time. I hope Joss Whedon can bring together all of this madness and deliver an amazing film.

Behold the cast of "The Avengers"

Well that was a very big day at Comic-Con, and while we knew most of this going in, it was still awesome to see all of these projects materializing before our eyes. Its going to hard, but we can’t fuel the hype too much. I’m looking forward to all of these films as much as anyone, but I’m not going to let the anticipation ruin my enjoyment of the movies as movies.

This past weekend saw the opening of Universal Studios’ latest film, Couples Retreat, which quickly took Zombieland‘s place as number one at the box office.Bringing in over $35 million in its first weekend, Couples Retreat not only ousted Zombieland from the number one position, but also took the title of being the highest grossing Columbus Day weekend opener in Hollywood history, a distinction formerly held by Meet the Parents.

The opening success of Couples Retreat comes as a welcome treat for Universal Studios, whose previous two releases, Land of the Lost and Public Enemies met with relatively lukewarm response. Perhaps it was the big name cast featuring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, and Kristen Bell, or maybe it was the matter of a more grown-up comedy opening in juxtaposition to two children’s films, a horror flick, and a zombie comedy, but whatever it was, it worked for Couples Retreat.

While Zombieland was bumped to number two, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs held steady at number three, and Paranormal Activity jumped up to number five from being twentieth the weekend before, thanks in large part to the expansion of its release. .

Disney’s double feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D maintained its place at number four, and the studio will soon be announcing whether they’ll be extending the run of the cartoons beyond the originally planned two-weeks.

I’m going to do something I usually don’t do for my reviews… I’m going to start with my rating: 5 stars!  That’s right, this movie written by John Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Dana Fox and directed by Peter Billingsley (long-time friend and business partner of Vince Vaughn but better known as Ralphie in A Christmas Story) had me ROTFLOL with a big ol’ Simpsons grin all over my face. Produced by Vaughn’s Wild West Picture Show, Couples Retreat doesn’t go overboard with crude, rude, or lewd humor. It delivers on humor gained from life and doesn’t take itself too seriously about marriage and long-lasting relationships. What Couples Retreat manages to do is present a caricature of four types of couples we all know well, and lets us look at life from their perspective.

After an opening montage of marriages from the 50′s through 2009, we meet the four couples that are featured in the movie. For fun I’ll list the couples as if this were The Newlywed Game:

• Couple #1 – Dave and Ronnie, played by Vince Vaughn (The Break-Up) and Malin Akerman (Watchmen); this is the couple that doesn’t realize they are looking at their marriage like a job and both just happen to be “working” in the same relationship with the same children, extended family and friends.
• Couple #2 – Joey and Lucy, played by John Favreau (I Love You Man) and Kristin Davis (Sex And the City); this is the couple that was high school sweethearts. She got pregnant at 18, then got married so they could raise their daughter together. Eventually they realize that they don’t love each other as much as they originally thought they did and are only still “married” just for their daughter.
• Couple #3 – Jason and Cynthia, played by Jason Bateman (Hancock) and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall); this is the hard-working, does-everything-by-the-book, over-thinking couple that eventually realizes that they may not be as compatible as they thought. They are working on saving their marriage and have a business plan in place to dictate how their lives should be lived.
• Couple #4 – Shane and Trudy, played by Faizon Love (Who’s Your Caddy) and Kali Hawk (this is her first co-starring role in a movie); This is the newest couple in the movie as Shane is recently divorced and dating a younger woman. Only time will tell if he is happy and can move on or is still in shock from the divorce.

Now that the table is set, lets look at the main course – the plot. Jason and Cynthia are having marital problems as she is not able to get pregnant. The stress of this is causing a split in their marriage so they are going to make one last effort and try to save their marriage. Jason and Cynthia know of a tropical place called Eden that has the best couples’ therapy in the world. The only catch is they can’t afford it on their own so if they can get their friends to come along, the costs is cut in half. Reluctantly the other couples agree as a way to show support, get a free trip, and leave to start the journey with their friends. Each couple embodies someone we know and we can laugh with as events unfold at the Eden Resort.

Upon arrival to the resort they learn that there are two parts of Eden: Eden West, where the couples retreat is located and Eden East, where the singles retreat and parties are located. The couples’ retreat is run by Mr Marcel played by Jean Reno (The Pink Panther 2) who is the world’s leading couples spiritualist.  The resort’s job is to make sure that there are no distractions for the couples and allow them to re-learn why they married in the first place and find the missing spark of their marriage. Needless to say hilarity ensues as we watch the couples partake in the couple-building exercises.

Couples Retreat is a comedy that has romance as part of the plot; I would not classify this movie as a Rom-Com (Romantic Comedy for those that aren’t up on their movie ling0).  And boy-howdy do the jokes start flying fast and funny. There are some scenes in this movie that will have you laughing so hard that you’ll want to go back and see the movie again JUST to catch the jokes you missed the first time.  I want to go into detail of the jokes and humor but I’m afraid that if I do I’ll ruin the fun and surprises.  This is the type of comedy where the delivery of the humor is in the words and life situations and not related to pratfalls and sight gags. I won’t ruin the fun but I will say that the younger child of Dave and Ronnie (Vaughn and Akerman) steals the movie in two scenes involving a Home Depot-type store.

As for the main characters, the script was written in such a way as to showcase each couple and their specific problems without taking away from the overall plot.  With this type of movie comes similarities to previous movies such as Parenthood (which itself is now the basis for two TV shows) The Break-Up,  Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and I Love You Man. All five of these movies show the funnier side of marriage, relationships, and life. With that, I will say that both Vaughn and Favreau  have great comedy timing and play off of each other with relaxed ease making the comedy flow as if natural and not being pushed. The same is true of the script – it allows everyone to shine through the words and situation and again, no rude or lewd sight gags are needed.  I keep bringing this up as too many movies rely very heavily on crude and/or scatalogical humor, or setup gags that have a cruel punchline. Couples Retreat manages to deliver the humor with a great cast while being real to itself and not talking down to the audience.

Only adding to the humor are the secondary characters, the “quirks” that are always needed to help sell the story. One face you’ll recognize is that of Dr Ken Jeong (The Hangover) who plays the Therapist that Jason and Cynthia talk to at the resort. His soft hands / soft heart approach adds to the quirkiness as he is there to help the hard-nose straight-laced couple try to fix their marriage.  Another character that the audience loved was Stanley [as he says in the movie, "Stanley with a C"] played by Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead). Stanley is the concierge of the resort and Mr Marcel’s right-hand man. Serafinowicz’s portrayal of Stanley reminded me of a very young Christopher Walken in style and appearance. A scene near the end of the film will have you laughing as Dave and Stanley battle each other in Guitar Hero. Yes, another movie works Guitar Hero into the plot it but does add some fun to the style in which used. (This has nothing to do with the review but can you name two other movies that  also used Guitar Hero?  That would be Rain Wilson’s The Rocker and Kevin James’ Paul Blart: Mall Cop.)

The humor (which I keep mentioning but can’t give too many details as it would ruin the fun) and the characters are worth the time to see Couples Retreat. Vaughn and company do a great job in delivering one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. With a running time of 107 minutes, this PG-13 movie distributed by Universal is a movie I’d recommend seeing on Date Night or with a bunch of friends. You will get your money and time’s worth in seeing this movie.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

As a St. Louis denizen, all I knew a few months ago about Jason Reitman’s new George Clooney film Up in the Air was that the filming process congested my nearest airport (and that several of my classmates wound up being extras!).

Now, thanks to /Film and the wonder of media embeds, we can get a better picture of what the film is about. Early word from the Telluride Film Festival compares it to the work of Frank Capra and Billy Wilder; while I can’t draw that comparison from the trailer, I can say this — this is what trailers should be. Elegant, moving, dwelling in the tone of the film and not the general appeal, Reitman has crafted a trailer for lovers of film.

Up in the Air, scheduled for release on December 4th, also stars Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga and Danny McBride. Take a look at the trailer below.

Up in the Air Teaser Trailer from /Film on Vimeo.

(Looks like our video got shut down! Boo, hiss. We got to it before embed codes were revoked. Take a look at it over on /Film.)

It’s tough to really say Extract is a comedy. Sure, it’s being marketed as one and masquerades as one, but the film never hits the notes it wants to. Certainly there are laughs, few and far between though they may be, but none ever really rise much higher than a chuckle. Writer, director, and animation guru Mike Judge is more concerned with telling a story than he is with satisfying the audience’s comedy fix. Taken from that viewpoint, Extract leaves a little more to be desired and only becomes a fairly mediocre film.

There’s no point in discussing Judge’s visual style, as he’s never been one to do interesting things with a camera, so the main focus will continue to be the story. The central plot revolves around Jason Bateman’s Joel trying to validate his amorous feelings toward Cindy (Mila Kunis) by convincing his wife (Kristen Wiig) sleep with a gigolo hired by him. While slightly intriguing, it’s not enough to keep the film chugging along for even its brief allotted runtime. It works, mostly, because Judge knows when to let it flow out of proportion, except for when dealing with Cindy. She’s just there, never really serving any purpose other than free looks at Mrs. Kunis. Her arc is never really wrapped up either – except for a quick throwaway line that’s underplayed and easily missed.

Also wrapped up rather haphazardly is David Koechner’s annoying neighbor Nathan. He’s a distraction (and that may be his purpose), but this gag gets old quick. Koechner’s perfect at being a pest so the blame doesn’t rest on him. Judge wraps him up rather randomly, and in a way that’s more off-putting than anything. In Koechner’s defense, though, he’s annoying in a lovable oaf sort of way. Beth Grant has us wishing Anton Chigurh would pay her another visit. Every frame wasted on her is one the film could be using to improve its story. Sadly for us, she’s the whole catalyst for the film’s subplot involving Step (Clifton Collins, Jr.), who is suing the company with persuasion from Cindy.

Thankfully, Collins Jr. handles Step very well and never rocks the boat with a character that could easily fall into the same type of trap. Perhaps he’s a visual metaphor for the film: looks goofy and overblown but is actually subdued and somewhat likable. Making the film likable in the least is Ben Affleck, who, like  Collins Jr., looks incredibly goofy. Softening that goofiness soewhat is a certain charm Affleck applies to Dean to turn him into the bartender we all know and love, even if he’s a little odd-looking. Affleck keeps the outrageous aspects in check to keep Dean likable. He ends up being the best of the bunch, and truthfully it’s nice to see him making a mini-comeback.

Which leaves Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig as the leading couple. Bateman of course is always a welcome addition to anything he does, even the strongly overrated Juno. He’s no different here, and has a presence that’s underrated to a degree. He guides the film when Affleck isn’t around to help him wade through the bad parts and doesn’t make Joel a wuss. Wiig certainly feels at home as Suzie and actually fits very well with Bateman. She’s sexy enough to be a housewife and smart enough to not overplay the character. She and Bateman feel natural, as if they really were married and going through these problems.

Shamefully they’re not enough to help the film overcome its own problems. Story aside, the film doesn’t appear to be trying for gut-busting laughs. The Hangover suffered story problems as well, but they made up for a good portion of those by delivering the funny. Extract has opposite goals, but really should have stuck to that plan. There’s nothing here that will evoke a great amount of laughter from a group of friends looking for the next big comedy, who will likely chalk up the film as disappointment in that respect.

For me, though, Extract comes off as a mediocre film that does enough right to balance its wrongs. Some performances sparkle while others tarnish hopes the movie had of being great. There’s a laugh or two here and there, but nothing that will have audiences in tears like the studio would want. In a sense, this is Office Space from the boss’ point of view and we come to discover that being the boss isn’t as glamorous as it appears. Essentially, that’s Extract in a nutshell.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

I was eagerly anticipating this movie as I’m a big fan of Jason Bateman’s understated comedic approach… and Mila Kunis’ understated hotness. And yet, neither could save this film. It was, in my opinion, just plain dumb. While writer and director Mike Judge usually does a great job depicting the humorous banality of everyday life in workplace and family, this script falls flat.

Bateman plays Joel who runs an extract factory (think vanilla extract, root beer extract, etc.) that he is trying to sell. Joel is a great character for Bateman. He looks at everyone around him like they are idiots, yet pulls off this sense of caring that comes straight out of his time on “Arrested Development”. Kunis plays Cindy, who gets hired at the factory and starts causing problems, both at work and at home. Dean (Ben Affleck) is Joel’s bartender buddy who seems as bizarre in this role as the advice he gives. J.K. Simmons (Spider Man’s J. Jonah Jameson) plays the plant foreman, Brian. His role is pretty funny, as is the one of ‘Step’ (Clifton Collins, Jr.) whose hilarious unfortunate accident is a focal point. In fact, if the movie had just been about Joel, Brian and Step’s life at the factory, it could have been comedy at its best. But throw in Joel’s wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig) and her almost funny sweatpants, and airhead ‘pool boy’ Brad (Dustin Milligan), and you have enough ‘plot’ to suck the life out of this endeavor.

Yes, there are some hilarious moments that will make you laugh out loud. But they are scattered among unfunny backdrops of plant worker stereotypes, infidelity and drug use. Even these last two subjects could have been funny (see The Hangover as a case in point), but instead of going all out for laughs, Judge tries to walk the line between making light of the situations and having an undertone of seriousness. And the line between the two ends up being a glass wall that lets you see what the movie could have been – but it never gets there.

Unfortunately, this ends up being a pointless movie with no redeeming qualities. And the ending leaves you wondering what the hell just happened… not only to the girl, but to the last two hours of your life. I can’t even figure out who the movie was geared towards. It seemed the theater was filled with mostly 20s, but the movie was mostly about a couple in their 30s, yet had jokes aimed at teens? Whichever way, I guess I’m just too old to get any of it.

I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone of any age. Save your money and watch some of Judge’s quality TV work like ‘King of the Hill’.

Rating: ★½☆☆☆