Wanderlust is Wander-ful

Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd made an ingenious comedic pair in the new movie Wanderlust, which was released in theatres last Friday, February 24.

Wanderlust follows the story of a couple that are forced to move out of their pricey, New York apartment to a more affordable area in Atlanta. On the way they stop at a commune called Elysium. Elysium is a place where there are no rules and everyone can live freely. It has a very hippie-esque feel that reminded me of the theatre troupe in Taking Woodstock. The commune encourages values such as doing drugs and free love.

Aniston conquered a role that we have never seen her in before. During her stay at the commune she conforms to their hippie ways and participates in all the drug usage and free love. Aniston usually plays a more reserved type character, one that is really relatable. She begins the movie in this type of role but we actually see a change in her that is fun and funny to watch. I enjoyed watching her trip out on acid during the film because it is something I'm not used to with her and it was refreshing to see that she can play more than one part.

Rudd also delivers in his role of a businessman who tries to adapt to a free-spirited lifestyle but begins to miss his old life. Rudd always plays a very similar role, the serious man that has an unintentionally funny side. It never disappoints but I’d love to see him try something different.

Though Aniston and Rudd had the leading roles, there were many secondary characters that really stood out. Joe Lo Truglio stood out as the resident nudist in the commune. Even though the nudist bit was put in as kind of a cheap laugh, it really worked for the film and enhanced the free-spirit environment of Elysium. Malin Akerman provided lots of laughs as she blatantly asked Rudd's character to sleep with her even though he's married to Aniston.

Elysium, though shown in a comedic way, also teaches us some valuable lessons. It sends across the message to not get so caught up in the little things in life that we see as important, like money. It's much easier to be happy if you're among people you love not worrying about useless things. The setting the film uses to portray this message is extreme, yes, but it gets the job done.

Wanderlust finished the weekend with a disappointing 60% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes but only brought in a meager $6.6 million in the box office. People may be getting sick of seeing Jennifer Aniston on screen, but I promise this film is worth the $11 price of admission if you're looking for some good comedy.

The Vow broke its promises

With the all-star cast of seasoned "chick-flick" veterans Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, The Vow promised to be the ultimate romance. Unfortunately, it left much to be desired. Though McAdams and Tatum make one of the hottest on-screen couples that our generation has ever seen, the script left them little to work with and their acting fell flat.

The Vow begins with a tragic car accident where Paige (McAdams) is sent through the windshield and suffers a brain injury that causes her to lose all memory from the past five years. The film follows the damage that is done on Paige and her husband Leo's (Tatum) marriage, which she doesn't remember at all. It never seemed as if the plot progressed, more like the same thing kept happening and they used the same solution to solve it. I was constantly waiting for something more to happen. It's a much more melodramatic version of 50 First Dates, mixed with elements from every Nicholas Sparks' film ever made. I constantly felt as though I was watching The Notebook or Dear John, especially with the character parallel. At one point there was a quote that I'm pretty sure was even stolen from Dear John, which starred Tatum alongside Amanda Seyfriend in 2010.

The film is said to be based on the real-life story of couple Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. The Carpenter's wrote a book with the same title as the movie, which inspired the film. The book, though, is centered around the Christian values that got the couple through the tough time they experienced. They stayed together because of the vows they took under God. The film version of their story, though, steers clear of any mention of religion; the wedding ceremony didn't even occur in a church and wasn't officiated by anyone religious.

Part of the reason that this movie is such a letdown may be because it's so realistic. The true events don't provide a plot that's sappy enough to compete with movies such as The Notebook or Dear John. Since we've been so spoiled with movies of this caliber, it's hard for a non-Sparks' inspired movie to impress us.

Though there were women all around me in  the theatre audibly sobbing, I didn't really see much to be upset about, besides the movie itself. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this since the film only recieved a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you're looking for a sub-par chick flick with extremely attractive actors to see on your date this Friday night, then this film is definitely for you. If not, then I'm sure you can find something much better to see.

Let me introduce myself

Hi, my name is Jess and this is my first ever blog. I'm a broadcast journalism major at Hofstra University and am still figuring things out. My career goal is to one day be the next Giulianna Rancic on E! News. Big dreams, I know. So until then I plan on sharing my thoughts on various entertainment news here and hope that you'll stay tuned!