Director: Tom Dey
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew McConaughey, Kathy Bates, Zooey Deschanel, Terry Bradshaw
Classification: 12A

Wow, what a title. The number of puns about this movie’s inability to shift into a higher gear almost makes my head explode. Yes, it’s another romantic comedy (a chick-flick to you, me and everyone else not a major Hollywood player). So what makes this one any different from anything else? In short, nothing. It’s your typical romcom.

But that’s not what we seem to judge romcoms on nowadays. We tend to judge them on the chemistry between the two leads. It is in this aspect that Failure to Launch falls flat on its face. Seriously, I saw more chemistry between Darth Vader and the Evil Emperor.

The plot goes as follows. A guy’s parents want their thirty-year-old son to move out of their house, so they hire a pretty lady to tempt him out of the ‘nest’, unfortunately they start to fall in love with each other.

Matthew McConaughy is one of those actors that you either love or hate (like a Marmite, if Marmite were a famous movie star). So your liking of this movie is probably going to come down to the simple fact of whether you find McConaughy’s character Tripp annoying or funny.

Sarah Jessica Parker plays Paula, a woman who’s made a living out of tempting men out of their parent’s home. If you’re expecting her character to be the same smart mouthed one from Sex in the City you’ll be disappointed. Parker is one-dimensional throughout. Never once do you care about whether she has done the right thing or not.

If the two stars where the only people in the movie then you’d be looked at a contender for next years Razzie’s, however, there is a saving grace and it comes in the form of Paula’s roommate Kit (played by the excellent Zooey Deschanel). She is  morbid, psychotic and even somewhat suicidal. Her constant battle with the noisy mockingbird outside her house adds all the humour you’ll need out of the movie.

There isn’t much else to say about Failure to Launch, barring the obvious pun, it just never changes gear out of a steady turtle’s pace. The lack of chemistry between the stars leads to you being more transfixed by the gum that’s got stuck to your shoe. Undoubtedly though, you will laugh at least once while watching. The slapstick humour can’t help but make you chuckle a little and by the time the ending hits you’ll leave the cinema giggling to yourself. That is the only thing that saves this movie from a truly awful review.

Rating 2/5: A dull romantic comedy that is barely saved by its supporting cast.

Failure to Launch is available to rent or pre-order from Amazon.co.uk.