Wow was this a disappointment. This movie reminds me of the extremely disappointing "Hail Ceasar", a great Cast, advertised as a comedy but utterly devoid of anything remotely funny. It is sort of like a horse race without any horses, a bar that does not serve alcohol, a basketball game where there is no basketball. Just some people standing around talking. The first scene telegraphs how this film is going. There is a meeting between Isla Fisher, Zach Galifanakis and their neighbors, Matt Walsh and Maribeth Monroe. Monroe talks about a number of euphemisms for making love. You could tell it was supposed to be funny and absolutely was not. At all. A portent of things to come. Fisher and Galifanakis play a boring couple who live in the suburbs. They are very boring. This is a change of character for Galifanakis, who usually plays a wild man, think "The Hangover" movies. Here is broadens his horizons; He plays very boring. Not a good move. The boring suburban couple only excitement is the new neighbors moving in next store. They are handsome and sexy, but not funny either. John Hamm and Gail Gadot try to recreate Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolee in "Mr. and Mrs Smith" only without the chemistry or wit. The plot is extremely predictable. Fisher is suspicious of her new neighbors. Galifanakis works at a top secret defense contractor, but he is clueless as to the real motives of Hamm. Of course Hamm and Gadot are spies, I mean they make James Bond look like a butcher. The worst scene is the conclusion. Walsh is supposed to meet with a crime lord known as "The Scorpion" played by Patton Oswalt. Spoiler: the big conclusion makes no sense. The Scorpion pays a suitcase full of cash for some microchips. But he finds out he is dealing with Galifanakis instead of Walsh, he decides to shoot him and Fisher. Some questions arise. Why? The Scorpion has what he wants, who cares who he was dealing with? It would make more sense if he wanted the cash as well as the microchips. And why was Fisher there? She wasn't needed and she was put in danger for no purpose. And then Hamm and Gadot are brought into the standoff with no explanation. The Scorpion and his goons have all these machine guns and are ready to kill all four of them. Fisher thrawts that by grabbing a butter knife, which she sneaks to Gadot. Oh that changes everything, Gadot has a butter knife which trumps 8 guys with machine guns. Seriously.
The 4 stars then get away from the goons by jumping out the window into a swimming pool. Everyone know that goons with machine guns are powerless to shoot people who are in a swimming pool. Galifanakis is afraid to jump, until the Scorpion shoots him twice in the chest. Then he decides to jump into the pool. Again, everyone knows that pool water cures bullet wounds in through the heart.
The script is stupid, predictable and unfunny. If you gave a 1000 chimpanzees 1000 typewriters, they would produce 1000 screenplays better than this one. Why 2 stars? The reason I went to see it in the first place. I like all 4 stars. But shouldn't they have been able to tell that the script was not funny or interesting when they read it? How can they make such crap?
The 4 stars then get away from the goons by jumping out the window into a swimming pool. Everyone know that goons with machine guns are powerless to shoot people who are in a swimming pool. Galifanakis is afraid to jump, until the Scorpion shoots him twice in the chest. Then he decides to jump into the pool. Again, everyone knows that pool water cures bullet wounds in through the heart.
The script is stupid, predictable and unfunny. If you gave a 1000 chimpanzees 1000 typewriters, they would produce 1000 screenplays better than this one. Why 2 stars? The reason I went to see it in the first place. I like all 4 stars. But shouldn't they have been able to tell that the script was not funny or interesting when they read it? How can they make such crap?