FAILURE TO LAUNCH

"You still live with your parents!"

Trip (McConaughey) thinks he has the perfect life. He has a great job, drives a classic Porsche 911 and has women falling at his feet but as soon as a girl starts wanting commitment he takes them back to his house and introduces them to his housemates, his parents. After thirty-five years however, his Mum and Dad want him out and they hire Paula (Jessica Parker) to do it for them.

High concept romantic comedies are all the rage in Hollywood but however outrageous the plot there is one thing that any Rom-Com has to have, chemistry between the two leading players.

As the film explains more and more adult males are still living with their parents well into their thirties but this is not the high concept. It is the idea of a gorgeous woman being paid to date one of these men until he gains the self-confidence to move out is however. Usually they are what you'd expect them to be overweight, glasses wearing, geeky types who would never have anyone who looks like Sarah Jessica Parker giving them the time of day never mind going out on a date with them but she has never met a man who lives with his parents who looks like Matthew McConaughey.

Trip is the ultimate bachelor. He takes care of himself, goes to the gym, does extreme sports, loves video games on his plasma TV and drives a classic sports car but he still lives at home. He however does not see this as a bad thing. He gets all his meals cooked for him, his laundry done and his room is always cleaned but the major advantage is that whenever he wants to dump a girlfriend all he has to do is take them home. If you had to choose someone to play a role like this you couldn't have picked anyone better than Matthew McConaughey. This is a man you can already imagine living this lifestyle any way, you just have to believe that he lives at home.

Paula is a fixer, a consultant that is brought in by desperate parents who just want their sons to move out. She charms them, wins their trust and ultimately builds their confidence so that they take that all important step to independence. Again this is a role tailor made for the person cast in the part, Sarah Jessica Parker. After being associated with a TV show for so long, making the move back onto the big screen (where she started in films like 'L.A. Story' and 'Mars Attacks') was always going to be a difficult one but this is a character that is far enough away from the famous New Yorker that she can have some fun.

With any good romantic comedy you need a circle of interfering friends that offer the worst or best advice on the situations the couple find themselves in. 'Failure to Launch' has these in abundance. Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper play Trip's fellow living at home friends, Ace and Demo. Both are into the same extreme sports as trip but each of them have completely different outlooks on life, with Ace been the geeky computer programmer and Demo being the nature loving traveller who can't settle anywhere. Paula has housemate Kit, played by the always-wonderful Zooey Deschanel. She has a real deadpan way of delivering her lines and while some may argue that she basically plays the same role in every film she appears in, she is still a joy to watch. Add to this a great turn by Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw as Trip's parents and you have all the support you will ever need for the couple.

'Failure to Launch' is a good romantic comedy that, while never laugh out loud funny, it will raise a smile throughout. The animal subplot is a little far fetched and there could have been more about Trip's backstory but these are just small points that shouldn't deter you from a good date movie.

How to lose a Guy in 10 Days

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2006