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Jared Huizenga

‘They Came Together’ … just another boring romcom


It doesn’t take you more than a few minutes to see what the cast and crew of “They Came Together” are trying to accomplish.

It doesn’t take you more than a few more minutes to see that they’ve done it no better than anyone else before them.

Directed by David Wain (who also directed “Wet Hot American Summer,” “Role Models”) and written by Wain and Michael Showalter (who also co-wrote “Wet Hot American Summer”), “They Came Together” tells the “love story” of Joel (Paul Rudd) and Molly (Amy Poehler).

And that’s pretty much the overview of the entire movie. It’s essentially 83 minutes of what feels like sketches that lampoon virtually the entire romantic comedy genre, slapped together with the occasional funny joke or some cliché transition to tie a new scene with the one that came before it.

And that’s the point.

Think of it as doing for romantic comedies what “The Last Action Hero” did for action movies, what “Not Another Teen Movie” did for “teenage” movies or what the “Scary Movie” franchise did for horror movies.

And that’s perfectly fine.

The problem comes in that I think this one will earn the labels of “smart” and “witty” because those are words often used to describe “Wet Hot American Summer” … like that film, “They Came Together” isn’t nearly as smart or witty as the filmmakers and their fans would have you believe.

The two redeeming qualities about this film are Rudd and Poehler, who play very well off of each other, and despite a disjointed story that wants you to believe they don’t, have an insane amount of onscreen chemistry.

That’s pretty much where the good – minus a few very dirty, inappropriate jokes – ends and the mundane begins. In the end it turns out it’s just another “Not Another Romantic Comedy.”

“They Came Together” makes no attempt to hide what its intentions are, which is to be commended. But aside from the two leading characters it pretty much fails on all levels.

“They Came Together” is a Video on Demand same day as theaters release. It’s available on a variety of digital platforms and is currently being shown theatrically at the Mall of America.

★ 1/2 of ★★★★★

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