By richd
This romantic comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey was released by Paramount Pictures in 2006. This is the third feature film from director Tom Dey who is also responsible for the moderately successful 2002 release Showtime starring Robert Di Niro, Rachael Harris, and Eddie Murphy, and the 2000 release Shanghai Noon starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, and Lucy Liu.
While Showtime and Shanghai Noon were pretty much straightforward comedies with big name stars, Failure to Launch is definitely a romantic comedy. The ability of Dey to continue to attract headlining stars is a tribute to his status as a well respected director. Failure to Launch hits the mark as a winner.
The basic premise for the film is that Mom, played by Academy Award Winner Kathy Bates, and Dad, played by football legend Terry Bradshaw, are desperate to have an empty nest. Tripp, played by Matthew McConaughey, is their thirty-something son who returned home after a personal tragedy. Now, several years later, his parents are more than ready to have him out of the house! This is where the lives of the four main players in the story intersect.
Bates and Bradshaw (Terry not Carrie) enlist the services of Parker for this purpose. No she is not a prostitute, though the lines do blur a bit. She is a professional interventionist. In a nutshell, Parker’s character has a step by step program to help ease her clients grown male children out of the nest; to launch them into their own lives. All seems to be going along quite nicely when the carefully devised plan begins to go awry…
I don’t want to give away too much as this is a great date movie. The male lead is not totally emasculated and the female lead does not lose all self-respect. This is a fun, witty, and creative romantic comedy. And to hook you further, the friends make great supporting players full of the oddities and quirks that make a supporting cast fun. You learn exactly what the naked room is. And you get to see McConaughey whacked in the head by the boom! If you are a fan of romantic comedies, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew McConaughey, Kathy Bates, or Terry Bradshaw, this is definitely worth watching!
Popularity: 21% [?]
July 10th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Rich, I have not had the opportunity to see this movie yet. I am going to have to check it out. It looks like it could be good. Also, congrats on your first post here.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
It is a fun movie! I hope you get to check it out!