Failure to Launch - wikipedia Failure to Launch Failure to Launch Theatrical release poster Directed by Tom Dey Produced by Scott Rudin Scott Aversano Written by Tom J. Astle Matt Ember Starring Matthew McConaughey Sarah Jessica Parker Zooey Deschanel Justin Bartha Bradley Cooper Terry Bradshaw Kathy Bates Music by Rolfe Kent Cinematography Claudio Miranda Edited by Steven Rosenblum Production company Scott Rudin Productions Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date March 10, 2006 Running time 97 minutes Language English Budget $50 million Box office $128.4 million Failure to Launch is a 2006 American romantic comedy film directed by Tom Dey, and starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. The film focuses on a 35 - year - old man who lives in the home of his parents and shows no interest in leaving the comfortable life his parents, especially his mother, have made for him there. It was released on March 10, 2006, and grossed over $128 million. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 3.1 Box office 3.2 Critical response 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Plot Tripp ( Matthew McConaughey ), a 35 - year - old man, is still living with his parents Al ( Terry Bradshaw ) and Sue ( Kathy Bates ) in Baltimore. Tripp 's best friends Demo ( Bradley Cooper ) and Ace ( Justin Bartha ) are also still living in their parents ' homes and seem proud of it. Tripp has a number of meaningless romances ; when he gets sick of the women, he scares them off by inviting them to `` his place, '' and after seeing he lives at home, they promptly dump him, leaving him free again. Al and Sue are fascinated when their friends, whose adult son recently moved away from home, reveal that they hired an expert to get their son to move out. The expert is Paula ( Sarah Jessica Parker ), who believes that men continue to live at home because they have low self - esteem. Her approach is to establish a relationship with the man to build his confidence and transfer his attachment from his parents to her. However, upon meeting Tripp, she finds that he does not fit any of her previous profiles, having normal social skills and no problems with self - esteem. He also has a good job which he enjoys. After an awkward encounter with his parents, Paula thwarts his attempt to dump her and has sex with him, all the while developing real feelings for him. She and Tripp find themselves sailing unfamiliar waters and confide in their friends. Paula 's vocation exasperates her roommate Kit ( Zooey Deschanel ), who believes that Paula took the job because she once had her heart broken by a man who lived with his parents. Paula, on the other hand, is shocked when she finds out why Tripp lives at home : his life collapsed when his fiancée suddenly died, and his family has been his source of solace ever since. Ace discovers what is going on and blackmails Paula for a date with Kit ; although Kit is more attracted to Demo, she and Ace wind up falling in love. Ace then outs Paula to Demo, who in turn reveals all to Tripp. Tripp angrily confronts his parents and breaks up with Paula. Wracked with guilt, Paula refunds Al 's and Sue 's money. After an awkward confrontation, Tripp manages to forgive his parents, but he can not forgive Paula for manipulating him. Tripp 's parents and friends devise a plan to reconcile the two lovers. They tie up and gag Tripp and lock him and Paula together in a room. Paula pours her heart out to him, and he finally forgives her. The film ends with Al and Sue in their empty nest, happily singing `` Hit the Road, Tripp, '' fading into the closing credits playing the Ray Charles song, and Tripp sailing away with Paula on his newly purchased boat. Cast Matthew McConaughey as Tripp Sarah Jessica Parker as Paula Zooey Deschanel as Katherine `` Kit '' Justin Bartha as Philip `` Ace '' Bradley Cooper as Demo Terry Bradshaw as Al Kathy Bates as Sue Adam Alexi - Malle as Mr. Axelrod Tyrel Jackson Williams as Jeffrey Katheryn Winnick as Melissa Rob Corddry as Gun Salesman Patton Oswalt as Techie Guy Mageina Tovah as Barista Stephen Tobolowsky as Bud Reception Box office In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $24.6 million, ranking first in the United States box office results for that weekend. The film grossed a total of around $90 million in the United States box office and made $128,406,887 worldwide. Critical response The film received negative reviews from critics, gaining only 24 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 143 reviews. Film critic Richard Roeper stated the film was `` completely unbelievable ''. Some otherwise negative reviews singled out Zooey Deschanel 's performance as the film 's highlight. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon wrote that `` Even with a relatively small role, she blows the whole movie to smithereens ''. See also Parasite single Boomerang Generation Twixters References Jump up ^ `` Failure to Launch ''. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013. Jump up ^ Failure to Launch at Rotten Tomatoes ^ Jump up to : Zacharek, Stephanie ( 10 March 2006 ). `` Failure to Launch ''. Salon.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013. Jump up ^ Rabin, Nathan. `` Failure To Launch Film Review ''. The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies ''. Film Threat. 2006 - 04 - 16. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 11. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Failure to Launch Official website Failure to Launch on IMDb Failure to Launch at Rotten Tomatoes Failure to Launch at Box Office Mojo Films directed by Tom Dey Shanghai Noon ( 2000 ) Showtime ( 2002 ) Failure to Launch ( 2006 ) Marmaduke ( 2010 ) Films produced by Scott Rudin Revenge of the Stepford Wives I 'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Reckless Mrs. Soffel Pacific Heights Regarding Henry Little Man Tate The Addams Family White Sands Life with Mikey The Firm Searching for Bobby Fischer Addams Family Values Sister Act 2 : Back in the Habit Nobody 's Fool Clueless Sabrina Mother The First Wives Club Ransom Marvin 's Room In & Out Twilight The Truman Show A Civil Action Bringing Out the Dead Sleepy Hollow Angela 's Ashes Wonder Boys Rules of Engagement Shaft Zoolander The Royal Tenenbaums Iris Orange County Changing Lanes The Hours Marci X School of Rock The Stepford Wives The Manchurian Candidate The Village I Heart Huckabees Team America : World Police The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Freedomland Failure to Launch Notes on a Scandal No Country for Old Men The Darjeeling Limited Margot at the Wedding Stop - Loss Doubt Revolutionary Road Fantastic Mr. Fox It 's Complicated Greenberg The Social Network True Grit Margaret The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Moonrise Kingdom The Dictator Frances Ha Captain Phillips Inside Llewyn Davis The Grand Budapest Hotel Rosewater Top Five While We 're Young Aloha Steve Jobs Zoolander 2 Fences The Meyerowitz Stories Lady Bird Eighth Grade Annihilation Isle of Dogs The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter Game Over, Man ! 22 July Mid90s The Girl in the Spider 's Web Late Night Untitled Pippa Bianco project The Woman in the Window Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Failure_to_Launch&oldid=847050415 '' Categories : English - language films 2006 films American romantic comedy films American films Films directed by Tom Dey Paramount Pictures films 2000s romantic comedy films Films shot in Maryland Films shot in Delaware Films shot in Louisiana Films produced by Scott Rudin Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Română Русский Suomi Svenska Українська 9 more Edit links This page was last edited on 22 June 2018, at 15 : 41 ( UTC ). 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Question: who plays the dad in failure to launch
Answer: Terry Bradshaw