- You’d think that having been involved with Arrested Development, Jason Bateman would have a good handle on that whole “humour” concept I hear is supposed to be important in comedies. Judging by his involvement in this, perhaps I am wrong in this assumption. There must be a hefty pay cheque involved because he can’t have read this script and thought it was entertaining in any way.
- I have not laughed at an “oops, I gave you the wrong drug!” joke in a long time and that scene certainly did not break my streak. Horse tranquilizer? Seriously?
- I was quite convinced that Brad The Gigolo was too stupid to actually find the right house and that Joel accidentally ended up paying for him to sleep with his obnoxious neighbour’s wife, but this was not to be. Suzie’s reactions to Joel’s suppressed anger over his wife’s affair (that he engineered) would have been much funnier that way and would have helped further reveal Joel for the asshole that he is.
- Because Joel? Is an asshole. I found myself wondering why he’d be friends with someone like Dean and then we’re told they both used to work at the bar together. One assumes that this was when they were in college, before Joel discovered how to chemically alter root beer extract to not lose it’s flavour after baking and before Dean obviously dropped out due to his escalating drug habit. But then I further wondered, why is Joel still friends with Dean, years and years later? It’s quite easy to drop people like that out of your life as you move on to bigger and better things. There’s nothing terribly redeeming about Dean; he’s the kind of friend who casually carries around horse tranquilizers and who encourages not only your own infidelity but also concocts a plan to get your wife to cheat on you so that you don’t have to feel guilt yourself about cheating. This guy is not really a keeper. But Joel goes back, night after night, to the hotel bar where Dean still works. Why? Because Joel is an asshole too. You stay friends with people like this because you’re like that too. I think we’re supposed to interpret Joel as having ethics of some kind because he gets that woman’s stolen purse back and decides not to sell his company for boatloads of cash, but I’m not really seeing it overall.
- Actually, I think we’re ultimately supposed to believe that his wife is to blame for all his troubles, since she never wants to have sex and clearly that’s her fault entirely and her refusing his advances is what compels him to descend into spectacular failure. It seems quite clear from pool boy Brad that she’s quite happy to have sex, just not with Joel. And do you know why? Because Joel is an asshole. There’s this tiny depressing moment where it’s suggested that she used to be a really awesome graphic designer and now she designs coupons, but instead of actually talking to his wife about her creative frustration, it’s all about him and his penis’ hibernation. If I were his wife, I wouldn’t want to sleep with him either.
- I think Gene Simmons’ hair might be made of Brillo spray painted black.
- Speaking of Gene Simmons: WHY.
- The title credits list all the actors and then say “… with Ben Affleck”. What gets you a “with” credit rather than just a regular one? I feel like it’s usually for older but revered actors who are usually playing a small bit part role as someone’s grandparent or people who have been out of the limelight for a while but whom everyone is just thrilled to be working with after their prolonged absence. This is the third movie he’s been in this year; that hardly counts as being absent. (I know, before that he hadn’t been in anything as an actor since 2006.)
- I should have known by the fact that this movie centres around an artificial flavouring plant that there’d be nothing genuine about it. Hey-o!
Extract
I just love an unfunny comedy.
IMDB Plot Synopsis Joel, the owner of an Extract plant, tries to contend with myriad personal and professional problems, such as his potentially unfaithful wife and employees who want to take advantage of him.