Is there life after Friends? The only reason I watch movies starring one of the six main cast members of the show is the hope that some real talent lies there. Until now, I must have seen everything except talent. But in this film, Lisa Kudrow tops it all. I don't think I've ever had to endure such awkward acting, obvious even as she walks into a room without saying a single word. I'm not sure if she was just putting in too much effort trying not to look and sound like Phoebe or if Phoebe is simply the only character she can play. Either way, it was quite painful to watch.
The film is basically three loosely connected stories and for some unclear and baffling reason, it opens with a scene from the end as Mamie (Kudrow) is hit by a car. We are then reassured by the writers - through text that constantly and randomly appears on the screen in the middle of conversations - that she will not die because this movie is sort of a comedy. Flashback to 20 years ago, step-siblings Mamie and Charley (Coogan) have sex and Mamie gets pregnant. Flash-forward to now, Jesse (Bradford), a young documentary filmmaker, approaches Mamie with knowledge about her son that had she given up years ago. If she agrees his filming the encounter between mother and son, he will lead her to him. He needs this to get into film school. She refuses, and in a scene lifted from an 80s sitcom, offers him another story instead: Javier (Cannavale), an illegal immigrant turned sex worker. Javier is actually Mamie's boyfriend, a masseur who seems to give out happy endings to some of his female clients.
Story number two is about Charley, who now runs a restaurant and is actually gay. His lover, Gil (Sutcliffe), had given his sperm to their lesbian friends Pam (Dern) and Diane (Clarke) because they wanted a baby. According to Pam and Diane, they didn't use his sperm but in fact resorted to another source to get impregnated. Charley is almost certain that the couple is lying because they don't want to share their child with them.
In the third story, freeloader Jude (Gyllenhaal) buddies up to Otis (Ritter) because she found out his dad is filthy rich. Since Otis is gay (and in love with Charley), Jude finds her way into the dad's arms (Arnold), with whom she unwillingly and unexpectedly falls in love.
Kudrow's pathetic performance aside, the movie was simply pointless. I don't believe that stuffing the cast with gays and lesbians gives any more dimension to a badly written, badly performed, non-sensical script. I seriously couldn't have cared less about any of the characters, whether Mamie would find her son, or if Gil is the biological father of the baby, or if things will work out for Jude. Give this one a miss for sure.
The film is basically three loosely connected stories and for some unclear and baffling reason, it opens with a scene from the end as Mamie (Kudrow) is hit by a car. We are then reassured by the writers - through text that constantly and randomly appears on the screen in the middle of conversations - that she will not die because this movie is sort of a comedy. Flashback to 20 years ago, step-siblings Mamie and Charley (Coogan) have sex and Mamie gets pregnant. Flash-forward to now, Jesse (Bradford), a young documentary filmmaker, approaches Mamie with knowledge about her son that had she given up years ago. If she agrees his filming the encounter between mother and son, he will lead her to him. He needs this to get into film school. She refuses, and in a scene lifted from an 80s sitcom, offers him another story instead: Javier (Cannavale), an illegal immigrant turned sex worker. Javier is actually Mamie's boyfriend, a masseur who seems to give out happy endings to some of his female clients.
Story number two is about Charley, who now runs a restaurant and is actually gay. His lover, Gil (Sutcliffe), had given his sperm to their lesbian friends Pam (Dern) and Diane (Clarke) because they wanted a baby. According to Pam and Diane, they didn't use his sperm but in fact resorted to another source to get impregnated. Charley is almost certain that the couple is lying because they don't want to share their child with them.
In the third story, freeloader Jude (Gyllenhaal) buddies up to Otis (Ritter) because she found out his dad is filthy rich. Since Otis is gay (and in love with Charley), Jude finds her way into the dad's arms (Arnold), with whom she unwillingly and unexpectedly falls in love.
Kudrow's pathetic performance aside, the movie was simply pointless. I don't believe that stuffing the cast with gays and lesbians gives any more dimension to a badly written, badly performed, non-sensical script. I seriously couldn't have cared less about any of the characters, whether Mamie would find her son, or if Gil is the biological father of the baby, or if things will work out for Jude. Give this one a miss for sure.