Producer Judd Apatow has finally hit the jackpot. The premise behind Wanderlust, the latest product doled out by the frat pack’s (pipe) dream factory, is a convenient vehicle for everything Apatowian: recreational drug use, free love, a bold display of human sexual organs, and people acting plain stupid.
After job-related setbacks, a yuppie New York couple (Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) settle into the chilled and cheap lifestyle offered by the Elysium hippie commune. The residents there prefer the term “intentional community” because, you know, hippies are so politically correct.
Wanderlust is great fun and provides some guaranteed chuckles thanks to an array of colourful, likeable characters in bizarre situations, even if they are predictable. But the humour wears off quicker than a hippie on hash. Every joke is a constant reminder of its source, the fish-out-of-water couple and the zany flower children, rendering most of the gags repetitive. The movie tries so hard to be funny that even awkward becomes awkward. I’m talking to you, Paul Rudd, and your “voices.”
Despite the personal philosophy of Alan Alda’s commune-founder Carvin, who remarks, “Money buys you literally nothing,” the price of your movie ticket will earn you a solid date night but also a solid reason to reevaluate comedy’s direction.
