Greetings again from the darkness. Seeing more than 100 new movies every year means strict adherence to the “gut instincts” policy of deciding which new movies to see, and which to avoid. A day after the beat down of Shame, I was desperate for laughter, so I ignored the gut instinct and headed out to see this new comedy. Unfortunately, my gut was correct, and I am still seeking laughter.
David Gordon Green also directed Pineapple Express and Your Highness, neither my style, but both clearly comedies. Jonah Hill has quite the track record of comedy films (Cyrus), and earlier this year made his first foray into drama with Moneyball. He has also recently lost a tremendous amount of weight, so this was to be his final “fat guy” comedy.
If you have seen the far-superior Adventures in Babysitting (1987) with Elisabeth Shue, then you know the basic premise. Hill does his mother a favor by agreeing to babysit her friend’s three kids. This proves to be more challenging than Hill’s character expected. The kids are Slater, played by Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are); Blithe, played by Landry Bender; and Rodrigo, played by Kevin Hernandez. These kids, of course, have various afflictions, phobias and disorders … but none as off the charts as Hill’s character.
Without going into detail, the first scene is horrible and the movie somehow proceeds to get worse from there. There is bathroom humor, a run in with a drug dealer (Sam Rockwell), a bitchy girlfriend (Ari Graynor) and a confrontation with a group of African Americans featuring Method Man. Every scene is predictable, often filled with stereotypes, and generated no laughter from me or hardly anyone else in the theater. I always say that comedies are most difficult genre to review, because everyone has a unique sense of humor … but this one just offers so very little, and doesn’t even seem to try.
SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you prefer to avoid the strain of actually laughing during comedies
SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you can find anything better to do – yard work, root canal, cleaning the septic tank, etc
watch the trailer:
Posted by David Ferguson 
Movie Reviews from the Dark 