Time for another review by our good friend Ronnie Malik of Boxofficebuzzbyronnie.com

Director: David Wain

Cast: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Ken Marino, Michaela Watkins, Malin Akerman,
Linda Lavin

Rating: B

Director David Wain teams up with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston for Wanderlust, a raunchy comedy about a Manhattan yuppie couple searching for survival after their trendy fast-paced life unexpectedly falls apart. The memorable side characters, bawdy jokes, and comedic timing of its cast will provide for about 90 minutes of mindless entertainment. The movie does not have much of a point to it other than to make you crack up.

George (Paul Rudd) is a hard working young corporate executive that hates his job and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) is a professional career jumper whose resume has more holes than Swiss cheese. When George becomes a victim of corporate downsizing and Linda’s attempts to sell HBO her movie about penguins completely fails, the couple find themselves in a financial bind and unable to pay for their overpriced studio apartment (affectionately labeled a micro-loft by a very quirky real estate agent played by Linda Lavin). Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the couple packs up and heads to Atlanta seeking shelter and help from George’s obnoxious brother Rick (Ken Marino).

On the way to Atlanta, the weary road travelers pull over to spend the night in a bed and breakfast called Elysium. The lovely suite George and Linda rent for the night is a welcome sight, but just as they turn in for the night the New Yorkers discover that Elysium is not the typical overnight inn. Much to their surprise the charming lodge is inhabited by eccentric pot smoking, dancing and singing, and free-spirited hippies. It doesn’t take much to suck George and Linda into the hippie commune lifestyle.

What takes place after the married pair adopts the new way of life is not a story, but a series of hilarious, offbeat, and over the top scenarios. Linda unknowingly gets to trip out on some type of hallucinogenic drug that sends her on journey for the senses. Seth (Justin Theroux), the witty community guru, goes head to head with George in an effort to outshine him and steal his wife. Carvin (Alan Alda), the founder of the hippie colony, makes us chuckle at his old age antics. There is plenty of quick, sharp dialogue delivered perfectly at the right time by all the colorful characters of the film. Each member of the cast gets time to throw out at least one punch line that causes roars of delight from the audience.

But, by far the best performance in Wanderlust has to be Paul Rudd’s portrayal of George. Rudd knocks it out of the park as the straight-laced city dweller trying to fit in with his new found friends. He shines as the goofy, clumsy and somewhat weird George, who does not transition gracefully to his new environment. There is one scene where George is talking to himself in the mirror as he tries to justify taking Eva (Malin Akerman) up on her offer of “free love.” The more George talked to himself – the more my sides hurt from laughing so hard.

Strung together in the movie are a series of crude and lewd jokes. There is plenty of nudity in the film and not the kind you may be use to seeing in other movies where the actors look like they jumped off the pages of a fitness magazine. The nude scenes show off bodies most of us would rather not see since the sight could make a person throw up. There is no real point to this movie and no hints of storyline that really makes any sense. Wanderlust is only good for laughs to relieve the rest of us urban folk from the hectic daily stress of our metropolitan world.

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