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Review

What a shame wasting such an easy target of a title on a surprisingly pleasant movie. The possibilities would have been endless if the movie was a dud (i.e. Failure to Laugh) but, lo and behold the movie is cute enough... let's just call it Failure to Suck. From the trailers, the movie looks like it would be one big gag: 35-year-old Tripp, played charmingly by Matthew McConaughey, won’t leave home, and he’s a spoiled brat who’s been mommied his whole life and eats cocoa puffs for breakfast. But no, that’s not the case at all. In fact, Tripp is actually a very likeable guy. He’s nice and sweet and fun and looks to his parents for shelter. Not in the physical sense though, more as a way to hide and be protected. But the parents, fearing he’s turning in to a man-child, want him to move out and end up hiring the ever-so-lovely-with-sunkissed-locks Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to woo him away from the nest. Both McConaughey and Parker are like two golden retrievers with their sunny hair and skin. And Parker, who is almost trying to be a bit too much like Jennifer Aniston looks-wise, has good comedic timing and acts spunky and young, reminiscent of her role in Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

The parents, nicely played by Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw, take a back burner to the love story, and a lot more could have been done with them. Bradshaw, who comes across as a big ‘ol nut had only two expressions: the surprised, eyes-wide look and the sympathetic eyes-wide look, almost as if he took acting tips from the kids of Our Gang. And seeing his naked behind towards the movie’s end might make you want to rethink that next bite of popcorn — or food ever again for that matter!

Also in supporting roles are some of Tripp’s friends, Ace and Demo, and a friend of Paula’s named Kit, played by the always dependable Zooey Deschanel. Ace and Kit have a nice supporting storyline,which really has nothing at all to do with the main storyline, so don’t think about it too much and just deal with it. All in all, the movie iss like a nice day on the beach: fun, low-key and easy to walk away from without feeling stressed out.

 -- Debra Gorgos