For a Good Time, Call...

For a Good Time, Call... - Dir. Jamie Travis (2012)

Are we living in a post-Bridesmaids world? While it wasn't a wholly new concept, Bridesmaids did become a benchmark for female-centric comedies in current cinema. The girls could be just as raunchy as the guys and the plot didn't have to entirely revolve around a woman's search for Mr. Right. For a Good Time, Call… is one of several movies that have been compared unfavorably to Bridesmaids, despite going into production before its release.

Lauren Powell (Lauren Miller) is a young professional woman who hits a sudden rough patch when she loses her job and gets dumped by her boyfriend for being boring. She's asked to move out of their apartment, but cannot afford a place of her own. Her gay best friend, Jesse (Justin Long), points Lauren in the direction of Katie Steel (Ari Graynor), who is behind on rent for her ritzy flat following the death of her grandmother. Lauren and Katie are actually old college acquaintances, except the latter got drunk and poor Lauren ended up with a face full of urine. Needless to say, she is not happy about the situation.

Things get weirder when Lauren discovers Katie makes most of her money as a phone sex operator. Unable to find a decent job, Lauren reluctantly serves as Katie's assistant and routing her calls. After a crash course in dirty talk, Lauren becomes a second operator and finds she actually enjoys the work. Meanwhile, Katie warily drops her guard for a romance with a frequent caller named Sean (Mark Webber).

Lauren Miller not only starred in the film, but also co-wrote the screenplay with Katie Anne Naylon, a former college roommate who really did work as a phone sex operator. Is phone sex still something people pay for, especially with the wealth of pornography on the internet? Or so I have heard. Considering the subject matter, For a Good Time, Call… could have easily been set in the 80's and it does have a retro tone mixed with a filthy mind. All too often, Miller and Naylon go for the easy jokes involving bodily fluids.

However, what really sells For a Good Time isn't the sex or the filth, but the friendship between the female protagonists. If I Love You, Man was all about the bro-mance, this is all about the girl-mance. The two leads have great chemistry together. While Miller is perky enough in her role, it is Ari Graynor who finally gets a chance to shine. She's displayed her comedic talents via smaller roles in films like Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Whip It, and Celeste and Jesse Forever. She gets to run a gamut of emotions here from her unique line readings and physical humor to selling her sweet-natured relationships with Lauren and Sean. Where For a Good Time fails is in its adherence to formula with Lauren as the uptight conservative who has to learn to let her hair down. There's also a second act break-up of their friendship that feels contrived simply to lead into the climatic reconciliation.

The supporting cast is great with Don McManus and Mimi Rogers as Lauren's parents, Nia Vardalos as a prospective employer, and cameos by Ken Marino, Kevin Smith, and Miller's husband, Seth Rogen, as phone sex customers.

For a Good Time, Call… is an R-rated twist on the Odd Couple concept. Most of the humor falls flat and the film never delves too deeply into its characters. However, it's energetic pace and breezy runtime might make it worthy of a rental.

Rating: ** (*****)

Wanderlust

Wanderlust - Dir. David Wain (2012)

Wanderlust is the latest comedy to come out of the Judd Apatow factory. It was directed by David Wain and reunites him with several members of the sketch comedy show, The State, including Ken Marino, who co-wrote the screenplay with him. Wain's first feature film was 2001's Wet Hot American Summer, a cult classic that was a spoof of 80's summer camp comedies like Meatballs. His biggest hit to date was Role Models with Paul Rudd as an energy drink pitchman dissatisfied with his life.

In Wanderlust, Rudd is George, a white collar worker seemingly satisfied with his life. He's married to the beautiful Linda (Jennifer Aniston), a documentary filmmaker, and they've just bought a "micro-loft" in the trendy West Village of Manhattan. Never mind that the cramped accommodations are a glorified studio apartment, it's a sound investment says their real estate broker. Then, the bottom drops out. HBO turns down Linda's new doc about penguins with testicular cancer and George's firm is shut down due to revelations of massive fraud. The not-so-happy couple is forced to move into the Atlanta McMansion of George's overbearing brother, Rick (Marino). During the road trip, George and Linda take a detour into a hippy commune called Elysium and are drawn to stay by a life unburdened of the trappings of modern society.

Wanderlust is rife with great, comedic performances from a game supporting cast. Marino is very funny as the obnoxious Rick with Michaela Watkins as his put upon wife. The denizens of Elysium are a colorful batch of characters led by Justin Theroux as their guru, Seth, whose outdated knowledge of technology consists of laserdiscs, FAX machines, and Walkmans. Alan Alda co-stars as Carvin, the community's burnt out founder, who rides around on an electric scooter. There's also Malin Akerman as the sexy bombshell, Eva, and Joe Lo Truglio as a wine making nudist. When he's not stomping grapes for his homemade wine, he's attempting to write a Robert Ludlum-esque political thriller.

There's good chemistry between Rudd and Aniston, having previously worked together in The Object of My Affection. Aniston gets to play it looser than usual though she doesn't get as outrageous as the sexpot dentist in Horrible Bosses. Rudd is always entertaining as the exasperated straight man. He gets the best scene in the film when he tries to psych himself up to sleep with Eva by awkwardly spouting dirty talk in front of a mirror. Nothing else in Wanderlust can top it. In fact, the bloopers shown over the end credits were the only other thing I laughed at. Rudd is naturally funny, especially when it feels like he's working off the cuff. However, the humor in Wanderlust is strained and full of tired jokes about hippies and their lack of hygiene. There's also a lame subplot involving real estate developers threatening Elysium.

In 1985, Albert Brooks wrote, directed, and starred in Lost in America, a sharp comedy with he and Julie Hagerty as yuppie Los Angelinos. They leave behind their lives to travel across the country in a Winnebago only to discover their old, materialistic ways were just fine. Wanderlust isn't nearly as subversive or satirical. It's a rather pedestrian comedy, despite all the talent involved.

Rating: * ½ (*****)