I was not too impressed by the trailers for the film. I thought there were some funny moments, but it looked like a conventional comedy. My university held an advance screening for it, so I thought it would be a good idea to check it out. While I found the film to be okay,I was not impressed with the overall product.
The Cast
I thought Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne were fine. Seth Rogen was just doing his usual style, but he definitely got a sizable amount of laughs. Rose Byrne was able to be just as funny. I’ve seen her in more serious roles, and I’m surprised by how well she handles comedy. I also appreciated how her accent was acknowledged in the film. The other two actors who stood out are Zac Efron and Dave Franco. I heard many good things about Zac Efron’s performance, and while I do not think it is particularly great, I thought he was fine. He had some funny moments and was fairly charming, but he did not bring anything new to the table. I think Dave Franco had funnier material. While his character was fairly standard, he had some hilarious moments. Particularly the Robert De Niro costume party. I do think that Christopher Mintz-Plasse was underutilized in the film. I believe that he is a really funny actor, and he was not given much to do.
The Humor
I laughed a good amount during the film, but not all the jokes landed. I think there were a lot of jokes that fell flat. There were many jokes that seemed raunchy just for the sake of being raunchy. But there were some jokes that were more clever. I thought the jokes that were less raunchy were much funnier. For example, the Robert De Niro party. I’m bringing that up again because it is my favorite scene. It had some nice references, and I found myself consistently laughing.There were also scenes that involved slapstick humor. I’m usually okay with that kind of humor, but I did not think it worked in this film. They felt forced, and looked fake (I’m sure that was the point, but I still did not find it funny).
Final Thoughts
I do not think this is a bad film, but it did not impress me. I had slightly higher expectations due to all the positive buzz, but I thought is was simply okay. There are a handful of funny moments, but too often there were others that were not funny. If anything, it’s a good movie to watch with your friends.