No. 65 They Came Together (2014) 59 of 100

 

 The IMDb page for this film records that I had awarded this film a 6/10 rating. To be honest I don’t recall having seen it and having now seen it a second time that rating is maybe a point too high. It’s a pity as it has a great cast, but the film is just a bit lazy and self knowing to be fully enjoyed.

Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd star as a couple having dinner with Bill Hader and Ellie Kemper. They share stories of how they met each other with the film dissolving to show the genesis of the Poehler / Rudd relationship. The film revisits the couples at the table periodically as some of the plot points are discussed and explained.

Poehler runs a New York sweet shop and Rudd works for a large corporate candy firm. There is mild peril as the big company looks to drive Poehler out of business, but this aspect isn’t really explored. It is stated from the off that the relationship is like a romantic comedy movie and as such lots of cliches and tropes of that genre are trotted out.

There weren't that many laughs and some stuff such as the destructive sex scene were lifted wholesale from ‘The Tall Guy’, for example. They do have a get out of saying they are satirising the genre but straight lifts don’t really fly.

I always like Rudd in films and he is decent here as Joel an aspiring coffee shop owner. He didn’t convince working for the evil candy firm but I suppose that was his main character point. It's not clear how he landed the role though or how he made it to executive status.

Poehler does her usual ditzy thing and I did find her a bit tiresome here. I have read her autobiography and she didn’t come across well in that so I may be prejudiced against her.

There were plenty of cameos and a couple of fun scenes including a man shitting himself at a Halloween party and trying to shift the blame. “Someone must have shat in my costume after I took it off” he says before leaving, with the host then wondering who the real culprit was. I also liked them cutting to Norah Jones recording the love theme for the film with the cast all joining in. This sort of fourth wall breaking can be a bit annoying but it was pretty funny with Adam Scott and John Stamos showing up for no reason all.

Shannon’s appearance comes late on and is basically a glorified cameo. I actually thought he was the dead body seen in the leaves at 46.47 but I was glad when he showed up at the finale as a spurned ex-lover. He gets a decent bit of boxing in with Rudd before he’s shot in the head in the background by a cop. Hilarious!

The film is self indulgent and insufferable in places. The short run time of 80 minutes suggests something was salvaged from an unusable whole, but what’s left is pretty unsatisfying given the talent on show.

When is Shannon-On? - 1.13.09

Outcome? Probably dead – shot in the head

Film 3/5

Shannon Stars 2/5