I practically had this write-up done before I even saw the film. “Wanderlust,” another raunchy comedy from friends and actor-director duo Paul Rudd and Judd Apatow, could be nothing but hilarious. After all, this is the team behind “Role Models,” one of the funniest movies in recent memory. Rudd is a comedy wonder child, whose curriculum vitae also includes “I Love You Man,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and a stint on “Friends.” “Wanderlust” also sees Rudd reunited with the ageless Jennifer Aniston for the first time since that landmark TV franchise. I expected a comedy explosion.
What I didn’t expect was a film that examines priorities in contemporary life, jealousy and fidelity in a charming, witty narrative. Nor did I expect gratuitous, full-frontal group nudity. I got both from “Wanderlust.”
George and Linda (Rudd and Aniston) are a young married couple whose established lives in Manhattan are thrown into chaos when both members’ careers take a sudden turn for the worse. Forced to leave town, George resigns himself to a job with his insufferable brother. The couple voyages to Atlanta, stumbling upon a hippie commune — excuse me, “intentional community” — and discover a dramatic change in pace. The rural, esoteric lifestyle has immediate appeal, and they decide to take up residence with the insulated hippies.
Abundance of jokes and sexual content
“Wanderlust” sees Apatow and company doing some real storytelling this time around. The McMansions of Atlanta and the lofts of Manhattan are portrayed as sterile and empty, while the isolated, happy little commune of Elysium is almost an Eden. When George and Linda feel that they’ve finally found a place where they belong, where they can be happy and free of the trappings and troubles of the capitalist world, the audience is compelled to agree. “Wanderlust” makes the viewer analyze if a part of them wishes they could run away, too.
But all is not as it seems in Elysium. The wafer-thin motivations for the antagonists are just there enough to provide the catalyst for the plot without getting in the way of what the movie is really about: laughs. And they are numerous, if not without caveats.
Just as you can expect from an Apatow film, there is enough vulgarity to fill a handful of R-rated comedies. The commune is portrayed faithful to reality, including all the free love and nudism you might actually find. There’s plenty of non-sexual, full-frontal nudity, including as many as several naked individuals on screen at once — both male and female. Beyond that, there’s plenty of sexualized content and dialogue. It’s pretty overwhelming at times just how profane “Wanderlust” can be, which is a shame given how darn entertaining it is.
The pacing and spacing of the jokes is leaner than in other comedies of late, but what “Wanderlust” sacrifices in breakneck, never-lets-up comedy, it makes up for in charm and personality. The jokes aren’t spread too thin. Rudd could read the phonebook and cause me to double over with laughter. The rest of the cast is able, and the writing is fantastic. At no time do you even realize how played-out the hippie movement feels in the 21st century — you’re too busy either laughing or wondering if you ought to run to Elysium yourself. Although, that pretty much goes away upon seeing your second or third naked flower-child wandering around.
Plot increases film’s humor
The movie ends abruptly, and without much flourish. It’s hard to ask for more from a comedy this adventuresome, but the finale really is typical enough that it feels very stale.
“Wanderlust” isn’t the laugh-a-minute riot that its predecessors are, and in a way it’s better for it — it is belly-laugh inducing, while at the same time it visits some adventurous and bizarre territory for a contemporary comedy. The exploration of jealousy in monogamous relationships is particularly hard-hitting. The charismatic, wacky bunch of bohemians contrast dynamically with the city-dwelling urbanites. But the plot always bolsters the comedy, never overshadowing it, making the gags funnier.
Grotesque amounts of nudity not withstanding, “Wanderlust” is another very, very funny comedy in the tradition of “Anchorman,” and perhaps the most heartfelt, intrepid one since “Napoleon Dynamite.” Without resorting to comparing it to other films, “Wanderlust” is poised to be one of the better comedies to come out of 2012.
