Wanderlust

Airing between 1993 and 1995 on MTV, The State was an odd mix of weird characters and skits that helped put an impressive list of comedians in the limelight, including David Wain who's become a film director -- among other things -- in the years since. The State crew sticks together though, working together in films like Wet, Hot American Summer, Role Models, and most recently 2012's Wanderlust.

Having bought a micro-loft in New York City, married couple George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) are forced to improvise on the fly when George's financial company is shut down and Linda's documentary is turned down by HBO. With no money to speak of, the couple heads south to Atlanta to live with George's brother (Ken Marino), who has also offered him a job at his successful port-a-potty company.  Road tripping south, they stop at Elysium, a bed and breakfast spot they soon learn is a hippie commune. Weirded out at first by the commune's general freeness with just about everything, George and Linda then start to see that maybe this out of the way place is what they needed. It gets them away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, reconnecting with what brought them together..........or maybe not.

Anyone who's watched the above-listed movies along with a film like The Ten, comedy groups like Stella and TV shows like Reno 911 knows that the type of humor the extended State group favors is........odd? Off the wall? Eclectic? Random? Yep, one and all. The best example is 'American Summer' for me, ridiculously stupid and random humor that rises above because it embraces the stupidity. I find the humor hit or miss for the most part though in their other ventures. When a bit works, it can be a home run. When a bit fails, it does so epically. Directing this 2012 comedy that struggled in theaters (making just over $17 million), Wain has that typically odd humor with a solid cast. It starts off strong, producing a fair share of laughs, but it struggles to keep up the energy throughout its 98-minute run time.

What is never in question is the strong casting. Rudd is one of the funniest actors currently working in film and television, and he doesn't disappoint. It's not quite a straight man part to the hijinks -- he's given his chances for looniness -- but it's a relatively subdued part. Aniston too is solid if unspectacular, but the duo has some good chemistry together. As George's well-to-do a-hole brother, Marino is a scene-stealer. He has perfected that jackass part dripping with smarminess, Michaela Watkins playing his spaced-out wife. Also look for Keegan Michael Key as an HBO executive, Todd Barry as George's jokey co-worker, and an uncredited/unlisted Ray Liotta playing himself in a scene-stealing appearance in the final scene wrap-up.

It's at Elysium though that the more memorable parts come out, many of them coming from State cast members. Justin Theroux plays Seth, the philosophical Renaissance man running the place with his new-age thinking while Alan Alda plays Carvin, the man who founded Elysium in 1971 and never left. Oh, and acid has torn apart any sort of memory/coherence he has. Just some of the zany folks at the zany commune include Eva (Malin Akerman) who wants to sleep with George, Wayne (Joe Lo Truglio), the nudist winemaker trying to write a novel, Karen (Kathryn Hahn), the hotheaded pacifist, Kathy (Kerri Kenney), the necessarily ultra-odd hippie, and Almond (Lauren Ambrose) and Rodney (Jordan Peele), the white woman dating a BLACK MAN!!!!!

With a whole lot of talent on-screen, much of the humor looks it came from improv. A "truth circle" is a good mix of laughs and drama with a great pay-off courtesy of peyote. The reveal of George playing a didgeridoo with the hippies is similarly a solid pay-off. The hippies rub their fingers together rather than clap because it's "less aggressive." Little things like that go a long way, underplayed to perfection. Unfortunately, much of the humor doesn't lean that way. It's obvious, even a little self-indulgent like Wain and Stella-mates Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black playing a news team with some painfully obvious sexual innuendos. It's so obvious it takes away the humor.

So while there are laughs, it only takes the movie until around the hour mark. From there on in, the laughs are left by the wayside, and things get more predictable. The supposedly pure Seth has his eyes set on Linda?!? I didn't see that coming!!!! Worst than that, some of the humor becomes uncomfortable to watch, like Rudd's improvising dirty talk in front of a mirror is painful. It gets worse later when he tries that with Akerman's Eve. I became increasingly frustrated with this movie as it went along to the point I actively disliked it at times. It's never good when the final wrap-up scene is the movie's highlight, the outtakes over the credits producing the biggest laughs. Capable cast, some funny moments but mostly a disappointment.

Wanderlust (2012): **/****

Tower Heist

I've written about this before, but I can't help but think of it every movie I watch with Eddie Murphy in it. The comedian/actor built up a huge reputation for himself in the 1980s and has basically spent the last 20-plus years tearing it apart. So when he does something positive and enjoyable, as a viewer we've got to enjoy it! Murphy is a bright spot in a solid, entertaining if unspectacular caper movie, 2011's Tower Heist.

Working as building manager for The Tower -- a swanky, classy NYC apartment for the wealthy -- Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) runs a tip-top operation with a helpful, hard-working wait staff. He's shocked to hear some startling news when Wall Street power broker, Penthouse owner in the Tower and all-around nice guy, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is arrested for counts of fraud, wasting millions and maybe billions of his investors' money, including the pensions for all the employees of The Tower. Josh wants to believe the best but finds out otherwise and comes up with a desperate plan. With several other burned employees and a low-level crook, Slide (Murphy), Josh is going to rob Shaw's penthouse apartment and find his hidden stash. Can these amateur crooks pull the job off?

As a fan of heist movies, I'll give just about any one of them a try. The premise reminded me of an ABC show a few years back -- The Knights of Prosperity -- with a ragtag crew of amateur thieves and crooks trying to be master criminals. It isn't a straight physical comedy, and it's not quite a dark, sinister heist movie either. Instead, it falls in between. Yes, it is genuinely funny; Josh's ragtag crew bumbling and fumbling through the planning and robbery. But surprisingly enough, there is a dramatic edge to the heist setting. It isn't played entirely for laughs. There's some actual drama involved, much of that chalked up to the Shaw character being a not so thinly veiled dig at Bernie Madoff. It's easy to feel for Josh and his staff, their pensions/life savings stolen by someone who thought he could get away scot-free with his plan. Comedy and drama working well together.

Playing on the comedic heist angle with a bumbling crew of crooks, I was happy to see the cast here, including some names I wouldn't normally have thought of. Stiller is a great lead as Josh, an everyman worker who busts his butt to do what he does and do it well. He does get some laughs, but he's the straight man, letting those around him get the big laughs. As the conniving, fast-talking Slide, Murphy does provide those bigger laughs, especially his "training" of his crooks and a later explanation of his protocol about the thieving business. Murphy is such a talented comedic actor it's easy to forget that when he's in so many of his recent sub-par efforts. There is an effortless quality to Murphy's talent when he's given good material to work with, and he's got it here. And rounding out the three leads, who better to play a condescending, upper class, know it all a-hole? Yeah, Alda nails his part, his Arthur Shaw a bad guy you just love to hate.

The ensemble behind these three are the real scene-stealers here, including Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe, and Stephen Henderson as Josh's crew of thieves. Broderick is a highlight as Fitzhugh, a former Wall Street whiz who's fallen on epically rough times as he's evicted from The Tower. The unlikeliest of the crooks, his deadpan, straight delivery kills it in the laugh department. Sidibe too is hysterical as Odessa, the Jamaican maid with a safecracking background. Mostly though as an ensemble, they work well together. Their scenes among the group allow each individual to shine when given the chance. Solid group of dramatic actors all given a chance in the 'Yuck it up' department. Also look for Tea Leoni as FBI agent Denham, assigned to guard Shaw, and Judd Hirsch as Mr. Simon, the bossy on-site manager who keeps pushing and pushing Josh to do this and that.

So what new thing does 'Tower' bring to the heist genre? Like 2010's The Town, it takes a somewhat familiar heist and puts it in an incredibly unique, visually different setting. Where 'Town' went to Fenway Park for its heist, 'Tower' heads to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Josh and Co. attempt to rob the apartment while thousands of people line the streets below, the giant floats filling the sky. I can't say why for sure, but it works. Yes, the heist premise has all sorts of holes and premises that just don't work in a ridiculous quality, but it is a fun, exciting extended sequence. The ending though is surprisingly sweet with one character making a huge personal decision.

Nothing flashy or spectacular about this comedy-drama-heist from director Brett Ratner, but it's fun from beginning to end. It benefits greatly from a strong cast -- the major roles and the supporting ones -- and a heist premise just unique enough to set it apart from the rest. Worth a watch.

Tower Heist <---trailer (2011): ***/****