Before beginning, it's important to note that this review comes from an anti-Matthew McConaughey perspective. He's not that hot and he's not that talented, so America should just get over him.
That being said, an open mind was kept during the screening of this movie. To its credit, the supporting cast is phenomenal, including Kathy Bates (an Oscar-winner for "Misery") and Terry Bradshaw (yes, the NFL star) as McConaughey's parents, Zooey Deschanel ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") as Sarah Jessica Parker's roommate and Justin Bartha ("National Treasure") and Bradley Cooper ("Wedding Crashers") as McConaughey's friends. Sadly, Parker, who did what she could with her part, couldn't save it (actually, one is reminded of "The Family Stone"). All these actors, even Bradshaw, are talented and funny and worth something in the grand scheme of Hollywood. But they were all wasted miserably in favor of pathetic banter between Parker and McConaughey, who, again, is not that hot.
McConaughey plays Tripp, who has a great life living at home with his parents. They make all his meals, do all his laundry and clean his room. Tripp has a decent job selling boats and has two daredevil friends, Ace (Bartha) and Demo (Cooper) who also live at home by choice. Therefore, they have a bond. When Tripp wants to get rid of a current girlfriend, he brings her home-and when the parents walk in during sex, the girl conveniently ends up breaking things off.
Then, unbeknownst to Tripp, his parents hire Paula (Parker) to finally get Tripp out of the house. Her official job title is a professional interventionist (though she tells Tripp she works with special needs kids), and she has a step-by-step plan that uses love to get men like Tripp out of their respective homes. As is incredibly foreseeable, Paula falls for Tripp, but it all hits the fan when he finds out about her real intentions.
However, Paula's feelings cross too many moral and professional lines. Her roommate, Kit (Deschanel), is her voice of reason, even if Kit's only real goal is to kill the loud mockingbird outside their window. So everyone can leave the theatre with a happy feeling, Kit-with the help of Ace and Demo-force Paula and Tripp to sit down together and work things out.
The worst part of the movie is not the over-done dialogue or the poor plot, but rather director Tom Dey's under-use of everything he had going for him. Bartha, Cooper and Deschanel are three fantastic actors and probably could have been the best part of the film, but they were wasted on silly subplots. Kit is made out to be slightly deranged-the direct opposite of Paula. It's unbelievable to believe the two would even get along in the first place. Kit's humor is centered in the mockingbird farce, which fails because it's hard to believe; yet Kit does blossom a little more by the end of the film.
Bartha, too, is wasted on stupid pratfalls, bad dialogue and being a foil for McConaughey and Cooper. Cooper has done well lately, too, with "Wedding Crashers" and previously the TV show "Alias," but he doesn't really have a definable personality in "Launch."
As for plot, throughout the movie there's a running metaphor that Tripp's life is out of balance with nature. While riding his bike, he gets bitten by a chipmunk. While rock climbing, it's a peaceful lizard and while surfing, it's a dolphin. All the animals are horribly made and look really fake, along with Kit's mockingbird. Secondly, there is no worth to this plot line. It's not funny, which was probably the whole point, and three times is two-and-a-half times too many. At the end, when Tripp and Paula reunite, Tripp is welcomed by the same dolphin from before-to show him "as one" with nature. Why did this point need to be made? It's clear that Tripp and Paula are happy and their lives will be happy and good together. Why ruin it?
Finally, McConaughey needs to pick a different character already. Tripp is no different from, say, his character Ben in "How to Loose a Guy in Ten Days." McConaughey doesn't change his vocal inflection, body movements or adjust the character at all. He seems to have absolutely no range as an actor on screen (even though he has potential, based on his relatively funny "Saturday Night Live" episode). McConaughey will need to do some major work before he can become an absolute American
darling.
