When bad movies happen to good people...
The three lead actors here may not be threats to win Oscars anytime soon, but they're all reasonably capable actors, and all are cast solidly in their comfort zone. Owen Wilson as the blissed-out free spirit who disrupts the lives of his more stable pal; Matt Dillon as the put-upon decent guy coping with aforementioned free spirit, and with disapproving father-in-law; Kate Hudson as the blandly pleasant wife whose main job in the movie is to scowl disapprovingly, either at Wilson (for the first half of the movie) or at Dillon (for the second half of the movie).
But the three of them are stuck in so deadly dull and predictable a movie that no matter how they try (and lord knows they're trying), they can't salvage much. Even if you haven't seen the movie -- even if you haven't seen the ads -- you know the story already. Wilson needs a place to stay, moves in with just-married best pal Dillon over the objections of bride Hudson. Wilson's zaniness grows increasingly annoying, lives are disrupted, etc. until the Great Epiphany, after which Wilson rushes about in his zany way to undo all of the damage he's done. Happy endings for all.
What's the point of making this movie if you're not going to do a single distinctive, interesting, or original thing with it? There's not a scene or a line of dialogue that we haven't seen before, and the actors all seem vaguely depressed to be stuck in this mess. Chin up, I say to them. At least they don't have to watch it.
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