STARRING: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Max Minghella, Aasif Mandvi, Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael, Josh Gad, Jessica Szohr, Rob Riggle, Eric Andre, John Goodman, Will Ferrell, BJ Novak.
WRITTEN BY: Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern
DIRECTED BY: Shawn Levy
I wish… this film was R. I wish… Shawn Levy wasn’t the director. I mean, come on, the director of Cheaper By The Dozen, who produces Last Man Standing on ABC, and launched the Night At The Museum franchise was hired to direct the reteaming of the two stars of Wedding Crashers? Seriously? Well, that’s what you get when you hire Shawn Levy. You get the most bland flavor of comedy possible, even with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson putting on their usual show.
The concept of the film is two guys, Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) two older salesmen who are unemployed and looking for a change in life. So they apply for internships at Google, and they somehow get these impossible to get jobs because people at Google embrace diversity. The personalities at Google are diverse. There’s the hot boss lady (Rose Byrne) that Nick is destined to fall for, even though Google forbids co-worker romance (and they don’t seem to care once it starts happening either0, the overbearing superior who seems to not like them (Aasif Mandvi), and the young nerd who takes a chance on them (Josh Brener). They are paired up with a few other interns, (Dylan O’Brien, Tiya Sircar, and Tobit Raphael) in what Nick will describe as some kind of weird hunger games. Their most formidable competition is the cocky Graham (Max Minghella) who brings entitlement to a new level.
So, there’s a slew of cookie cutter supporting characters dancing around Wilson and Vaughn, who are being told this is PG-13, and family friendly Shawn Levy will keep it that way. I absolutely loved Wedding Crashers, and it remains one of my favorite comedies. This is a disappointment compared to that. Sure, if you love Vaughn and Wilson, they’ll make you laugh. They’re trying so hard, given so little wiggle room from Levy. A few risque jokes hit hard, but obviously they could only have a handful.
Hopefully, Wilson and Vaughn will reteam again in the future, with a better director. They work so well together, its impossible to hate them. But, you can still be disappointed, which I have a feeling you will be.
FINAL GRADE: C+
