....and hilarity ensues

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2005)

This movie is the latest from the group that has formed over the years of Stiller, Black, the Wilson Bros., Vaughn, and Ferrel. Some of the comedies that have sprung forth from this group have been excellent and the laughs provided have been well worth the ticket price (anchorman, old school), others .... well, not so much (envy, dodgeball). I am happy to report that this is one of the former. Sure, the plot is as predictable and clichéd as any Hollywood machine movie, but this comedy separates itself from those and from the other films from this troupe by being genuinely hilarious. The plot may be formulaic, but the jokes are not. Even in the greatest of the movies featuring these players the jokes have been expected and while funny, not enough to knock you on your ass (although funny enough to quote continuously for months following the initial viewing). This flick has that punch to its jokes and that is exactly what makes it so great. That is what separates it from other movie and that is to what it owes its success. The outline and the previews don't seem at all fresh, but the jokes are crisp. Plus any movie with Christopher Walken is good in my book.