Wanted to love it... Was sadly bored to death

Rating: 5/10 (22 June 2014)

I'm not a super Stiller fan, but would say I've enjoyed most of the movies he's been in over the years. I was particularly excited to see this film because it seemed like Ben Stiller was taking on a somewhat different role than usual.
Unfortunately, this movie was so lackluster and dragging that I had a hard time watching it, and I don't mean content-wise. The movie was visually stunning and when it could keep my attention long enough, it was even cheeky and creative. It almost hurts me how much I am unable to enjoy this movie at all. But something about the way the whole story is presented is off-putting. Maybe it's that Stiller is almost unbelievable as a soft-spoken, introverted bloke. Maybe it's how obvious a lot of the product placements are. Maybe it's that Kristen Wiig's character almost felt like a more realistic version of her character in Anchorman 2, or that her and Stiller's relationship had very little development, leaving me generally disinterested in what was going to happen to it.
I wish I could pinpoint what made this movie so mind-numbingly boring to me, but I really can't. All I can conclude is that, while visually appealing at times, it was a huge disappointment because of an overall lack of development among the plot, characters, and relationships.