More of a drama with many stereotypes

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2007)

I went (was dragged) to this without seeing or hearing anything about it. It's been a long time since I've seen it but I still vividly remember the haunting scene of Pete walking out the door with the cake in his hands at his kid's birthday party (this was a killer scene for me). For the most part, I agree with the comments of some other reviewers- not funny enough to be called a comedy, stereotype (cliché) of pothead-losers with no direction and using too much vulgarity for no particular reason. I can accept an unusual amount when using it for dramatic effect or to highlight an issue (see the Randall character in Clerks I and II for an example of ignorance versus stupidity and the combination of both). I think, however, that if any actor wanted to portray a believable, real world slob (even an idiot usually possesses some sort of internal feedback loop) could have done better. The only difference here (for me anyway) is that I actually identified with the Pete character a little more than I was comfortable with. More reality than I was prepared for or ever really wanted to think about. Having kids doomed my first marriage and (for me) even the thought that the act of having children could create a relationship between two totally different people or stabilize a strained relationship is absurd-pure fantasy (I'll admit there is a slim possibility but this is mostly nonsense). Pete's relationship, as portrayed by Paul Rudd, was the bright spot in this dimly lit comedy. Pete's marriage was all too typical and all too real, while rest of the film was and is pure fantasy- more in common with a science fiction film or a vampire movie than actual real life.