Walk of Shame –
Dir. Steven Brill (2014)
Everybody has a bad day, but chances are they were nothing
like the bad day suffered by Elizabeth Banks in Walk of Shame, a raunchy comedy that's a mash-up of The Hangover and After Hours.
Banks stars as Meghan Miles, a news reporter who is in line
for a promotion to lead anchor and about to get married. However, everything
falls apart in quick fashion. Her handsome fiancé (Oliver Hudson) dumps her
while the new promotion goes to someone else. Meghan decides to blow off some
steam with her best friends, feisty Rose (Gillian Jacobs) and dim bulb Denise
(Sarah Wright), for a night of drinking and debauchery. Meghan spends the night
with handsome bartender Gordon (James Marsden). Since this is Los Angeles, he's
not really a bartender, he's actually a writer. Either way, he's living in a
hip loft that neither a bartender nor a struggling writer could afford.
Meghan receives a late night phone call from her producer
(Willie Garson) that the anchor position is open once more after the
prospective candidate was fired due to some embarrassing photos. Meghan tries
to rush to the studio, but her car (with her purse and ID inside) has been
towed away. She's locked out of the building and can't remember which apartment
was Gordon's. Oh, and she forgot her cell phone after being frightened by her
one night stand's cat. Meghan finds herself wandering the streets in a
skin-tight yellow dress, which causes everyone to mistake her for a hooker.
Walk of Shame was
written and directed by Steven Brill, whose resume includes Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, and Drillbit
Taylor. That will give you a good clue as to the level of sophistication at
play here. Walk of Shame derives much
of its humor from racial stereotypes and the humiliation of its starlet. Banks
stumbles around and becomes the subject of scorn by judgmental bystanders and a
pair of smug police officers (Bill Burr, Ethan Suplee). If they aren't
lecturing her, then they're propositioning her, such as a devout Jew believing she
was sent by the devil to tempt her or a horny kid who wants to get a look at
her boobs. The only helpful individuals Meghan encounters are three gangsters
who offer her shelter in a crack house before it's attacked by a rival gang.
To be fair, Banks does her best. Her beauty and winning
personality still shine through the dull material. She's a bright woman who is
forced to act foolishly for the sake of the screenplay. The central joke
involving her figure hugging attire doesn't even work. In L.A., that's dressing
conservatively. Out of all the contrivances that force Meghan into her precarious
predicament, one is surprisingly clever. Even when she's able to make a call,
Meghan can't remember anyone's number since they were saved in her old phone.
Welcome to the 21st century. Marsden is well cast, but he isn't
given much to do outside of being the genial love interest. Fans of stand-up
comedy might enjoy the brief appearances by Bill Burr, Bryan Callen as a
sketchy drug dealer, and Tig Notaro as an extremely unhelpful owner of an
impound lot. There's also Ken Davitian as a taxi driver and Kevin Nealon as a
traffic reporter with an odd personal life.
In more capable hands, Walk
of Shame might have had something profound to say about slut shaming and
internet infamy. Instead, we get another comedy that goes for the lowest
hanging fruit available.
Rating: * ½ (*****)
