Wanderlust is a comedic suspense film with a star-studded cast. Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd play a married couple in New York City, George and Linda, who are searching for happiness in all the wrong places. George is a cynical businessman at a large company who hates his job but works hard to provide for his frivolous wife. Linda is a fun-loving woman who changes her occupation more than her clothes. She describes herself as an entrepreneur who has yet to find her niche. When he gets laid off from his well-paying job and HBO declines her depressing penguin documentary, they are forced to move out of their newly purchased "micro loft" to go live with his wealthy, crude, brother in Georgia. A chain of events leads them to a hippy-commune-in-denial, Elysium. After the couple spends some time in the confinements of his tormenting brothers house, and then in the warm community Elysium provided they come to a hard decision. They are forced to choose between living under the rules of the open community they love, and forgo their materialistic ways, or, resort back to their normal lives.
I haven't seen anything like Wanderlust. To me, the plot and levity does not match any other comedy in the past decade. However, the director, David Wain, has written and directed a plethora of movies that are similar such as The Ten and Role Models which both have similar humor and each feature Paul Rudd. I appreciate the comedy brought to light through Elysium. They light-heartedly made fun of how hippies or commies act in certain situations. They also added in all the working parts of a stereotypical commune such as: nudity, marijuana, hallucinogens, free love, and peace to animals and nature. These elements added to the humor, and surprised the audience in every scene, taking each joke to the edge of being too far. Paul Rudd does improve throughout the movie, which brought out even more laughs from the audience. At the same time they made fun of the typical hot-headed rich guy through George's extremely crude brother, Rick, played by Ken Marino, who made his fortune in the port-a-potty business. I could relate to the way materialistic wants pulls us away from what is truly important in life. After watching this movie it made me want to be a part of a commune because of the way everyone got along and how caring everyone is for each other. The other underlying theme in this film is that the sense of community can easily be destroyed when everyone is competing to have the nicer house, clothes, car, and etcetera. When Wanderlust came out in February I was convinced that Jennifer Aniston's relationship with co-star, Justin Theroux, was a publicity stunt. Now that the two are engaged it is amusing to watch their chemistry in this film and see why his brilliant comedic acting grabbed her attention.
I haven't seen anything like Wanderlust. To me, the plot and levity does not match any other comedy in the past decade. However, the director, David Wain, has written and directed a plethora of movies that are similar such as The Ten and Role Models which both have similar humor and each feature Paul Rudd. I appreciate the comedy brought to light through Elysium. They light-heartedly made fun of how hippies or commies act in certain situations. They also added in all the working parts of a stereotypical commune such as: nudity, marijuana, hallucinogens, free love, and peace to animals and nature. These elements added to the humor, and surprised the audience in every scene, taking each joke to the edge of being too far. Paul Rudd does improve throughout the movie, which brought out even more laughs from the audience. At the same time they made fun of the typical hot-headed rich guy through George's extremely crude brother, Rick, played by Ken Marino, who made his fortune in the port-a-potty business. I could relate to the way materialistic wants pulls us away from what is truly important in life. After watching this movie it made me want to be a part of a commune because of the way everyone got along and how caring everyone is for each other. The other underlying theme in this film is that the sense of community can easily be destroyed when everyone is competing to have the nicer house, clothes, car, and etcetera. When Wanderlust came out in February I was convinced that Jennifer Aniston's relationship with co-star, Justin Theroux, was a publicity stunt. Now that the two are engaged it is amusing to watch their chemistry in this film and see why his brilliant comedic acting grabbed her attention.