"Well, uh, I'm looking for maybe a fiction book."
"You like fiction books?
"Just because I work for a big corporation doesn't mean I don't like fiction books. In fact, fiction books is one of my favorite kinds of books
"You have to be kidding me."
"Do you like fiction?"
"Like it? Try love it!"
"That's crazy!"
"I've never met anyone else who likes fiction! That is too funny!"
"That is literally too funny"
Both chuckle, fade in romantic music
The above demonstrates both the best and the worst of They Came Together, the newest film from David Wain starring basically every comedic actor you like. Roughly half the writing that is done about this movie focuses on Wain (and co-writer Michael Showalter)'s previous film, Wet Hot American Summer, and how They Came Together doesn't quite match up to that film's level of consistent hilarity. Well, I didn't like WHAS all that much when I watched it for the first time this year, so don't worry, this review will be about They Came Together alone for the remainder of our time together.
They Came Together is a satire of the romantic comedy genre. I have a bit of a rough time with satires, in general, because I think there is a very fine line to be walked between making a statement (even if that statement is as obvious as "Romcoms are built on silly ideas, dontchathink?") and being funny. Where They Came Together works is in the laugh department. I have a major soft spot for Amy Poehler, and I always like to see Paul Rudd in a movie, so I was pretty easy to go along for this ride. The supporting characters are a bit more hit and miss. I liked the four friends of Rudd's who each represent one aspect of his personality and from whom he must eventually pull aspects in order to make a more perfect version of himself, and Max Greenfield is spectacular as his younger, prospect-less brother (seriously, it's perfect casting), but his opposite, Teyonah Parris as Poehler's bestie, is basically a non-entity. I blame this mostly on the writing, which gives her next-to-nothing to do, and which doesn't even give much time to the people I called out as positives above.
The real issue, though, is that this is kind of well-trod territory, isn't it? Nothing here feels daring, or new, or original. We've known about these cliches and absurdities since basically the dawn of cinema, and They Came Together doesn't go quite far enough to distinguish itself from the pack. There's no elevator ride from The Cabin in the Woods, to put it another way. They Came Together is quite funny, and the idea of calling them "fiction books" is decidedly clever/dumb. I just wish there was more ingenuity (see the closing ten minutes, which go slightly further than I expected them to, and are very funny) or a harder edge to the semi-rote jokes here.
7/10.
Bad Words.
It would be a spoiler to tell you what this movie is really about. On the surface, it's about a petulant adult, a prodigy of some sort who uses his incredible spelling powers and a loophole in the rules to compete in a national spelling bee normally reserved for the middle-school crowd. So there's a mystery set up by the opening narration which prods us to ask why. Why is he doing this? What does he get out of it? And how far will he take it? The film, directed by its star (Jason Bateman), takes its time answering these questions. When it does answer them, the results are ever so slightly off. It's not that I don't believe the circumstances, nor that the character would behave how he does, it's more that it feels a little pat. A little too easy. Which is too bad, because the rest of the movie is really good. Bateman has an easy dickishness that plays wonderfully onscreen, and his supporting cast is remarkably capable (When is Kathryn Hahn gonna get her big break, and why isn't Allison Janney in everything?). The young Indian boy he befriends doesn't fall into the traps that often derail child performers, and any awkwardness is easily explained away as part of his spelling bee being. Bateman's direction is generally no great shakes, but he does use slo-mo quite nicely in a few spots. The climax is nice, too, I just wish it didn't feel so easy.
8/10.