Portrayal of current American culture?

Rating: 4/10 (2 August 2010)

It was good until the wedding part. Before this I wasn't really thinking about the movie, because til that point it was straightforward entertainment, a comedy with maybe a slight romantic twist and a touch of drama.
Then came this fairly drastic change of tone and my mind started wandering. I began to really think about the movie, scenario, characters and the fact that once again comes a highly praised Hollywood movie where I can't seem to connect with anyone.
I started wondering if the movie itself turned sour, or is it just me who doesn't understand what's going on. Then I had a piffany with Clooney when he was giving his pep talk to a guy having doubts about his future as a married man.
It struck me that the movie seems to take for granted that you are not happy with your life and that most people are craving for something that they don't have. It assumes that you need to have some kind of an adventure or danger all the time to feel alive. If you are happy or content with your life, you are probably a cheater or otherwise senseless. To me it's pretty depressing.
But.. there would be nothing wrong if the movie actually made a point about any of these things. We have movies like American Beauty which really are social commentary, while on the other hand we have movies like this which are disguised as feel good entertainment. You cannot be 100 % sure if it's a big commercial for, well, a couple of hotels, airlines and car rentals, but also the American way of life.
Actually this whole movie and it's success (best movie of the year nomination, really?) got me really confused. I've felt the same with a lot of Hollywood movies lately. Most of the characters actions and thoughts were well beyond me. Were they meant to be jokes, social criticism or thoughts that people can connect with, I truly don't know.
The movie is not all bad, it's well made (altho some characters seem to come and go pretty arbitrarily), well performed, funny and hits a few thoughts here and there. It's propably the context as a whole that I have difficulties swallowing.