You can tell that director David Wain wants his new film, They Came Together, to be as iconic as his most famous work, Wet Hot American Summer. The intent soaks the film, manifesting in every crazy aside, every use of Christopher Meloni, and every bizarre sex scene. They Came Together is Wain’s attempt at recapturing the weird magic of Wet Hot American Summer, but it doesn’t quite work—you can’t strike ridiculous lightning twice. (Check out Travis's review here.)
Nevertheless, stars Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler—as Joel and
Molly, respectively—give it their all, and for as much as the film feels like
an overly long sketch jammed before the 1 a.m. cutoff on Saturday Night Live,
there are moments here as memorable as Meloni and his can of vegetables. If you’re
going to end up seeing or renting They Came Together this weekend, do it for
these five moments.
+ “He’s handsome but
in a nonthreatening way; vaguely but not overly Jewish.” “Molly is the kind of
cute, klutzy girl that sometimes will drive you a little bit crazy, but you can’t
help but fall in love with her.” One of the first things They Came Together
does well is introduce the main characters played by Rudd and Poehler, and
could they have been more spot-on in their generalizations of romantic-comedy
protagonists? Absolutely not. Especially if you’ve ever seen Rudd play a
romantic lead, like he did way back when in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” –
Paris basically defined “handsome but in a nonthreatening way.”
+ Amy Poehler shaving
her face. In an early sequence, a split-screen shows Rudd and Poehler
getting ready for their days in a similar fashion—singing along to the same
song in the shower, for example—and then Rudd shaving his face … while Poehler
also shaves her face. It’s so stupid, but her cutesy, grinning face as she
smears shaving cream all over it has stuck with me since.
+ Jason Mantzoukas’s
beard. The thing should get its own IMDB credit. Whether he’s trying to
tame it down as a candy-company executive or letting it look all crazy while he’s
in costume as a vampire, it’s a thing of beauty. Bless this man’s commitment to
growing, and keeping, insane facial hair. It’s almost as important to the film
as Michael Ian Black’s greasy sideswept hair and orange tan—because if you’re a
romantic-comedy villain, that’s just how you look. That’s just true.
+ “That’s the point
of view I represent!” says Kenan Thompson, who plays the token married and
token black friend to Rudd’s Joel. If only all movies were this upfront about
their casting quotas.
+ That time Joel pulls
a cheeseburger out from behind the ear of Molly’s-never-before-mentioned son,
who immediately calls him “Daddy.” We’re so used to seeing romantic-comedy
protagonists try to charm children onto their side, but at least Wain abandons
the change route—who even uses coins
anymore?—and goes straight for the grilled-meat option. I keep hoping
someone will pull this move on me someday. I would love them for the rest of my
life.
