DVD Review: Wanderlust

Sometimes a movie has all the pieces, but can't put them together well enough to make a strong whole.  Beginning with the title, Wanderlust misses the mark.  The movie has nothing to do with wanting to travel or move around.  The main characters, George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) live in a tiny apartment in NYC.  Linda doesn't really have a job - she's currently trying to make a documentary that flops.  When George loses his job, they're forced to move to Atlanta to live with George's asshole brother Rick (Ken Marino) and his drugged/crazy wife Marissa (Michaela Watkins).  However, on their road-trip they stop for the night at a bed-and-breakfast that is run by members of a commune, run by Seth (an unrecognizable Justin Theroux).  They're a little nervous when they meet Wayne (Joe Lo Truglio), a nudist wine-maker, but overall enjoy their experience immensely - the people who are enjoying life and really living appeal to them.  When they can't take it anymore with Rick and Marissa, George and Linda decide to return to the commune and see what living there is like.  However, actually living in a shared space with people who are more than a little crazy (they do a lot of hallucinogenic drugs) isn't quite what they were hoping for.  George realizes this first and leaves while Linda decides to stay.
This could have been more original in a lot of its concepts, (outsiders finding a commune a crazy place?) and the combined whole fails to bring together the really interesting little pieces that were there.  The nudist author/wine-maker is hysterical and personable.  The fact that they have no privacy and really live within each others lives was really funny, but they didn't take it far enough to be really funny and hold the movie together.  I was disappointed overall, but it's definitely a step up for Jennifer Aniston's rom-com career.  There are a few moments you want to laugh out loud, but it doesn't bring enough that's new or sweet to be worthwhile.


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