Failure to Launch **½

Failure to Launch
Directed by Tom Dey. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Terry Bradshaw, and Kathy Bates. Rated PG-13.

All right, I admit it. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, but these days it's rare that you'll find a good one. Failure to Launch isn't going to be winning any Oscars, but it's still not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening. Matthew McConaughey stars as Trip, a thirtysomething slacker who, after all these years, still hasn't moved out of his parents' house. Desperately wanting him to ship out, his parents hire a young woman named Paula to form a relationship with Trip so that he might finally get out of the house. It's not the most original story, but it works well enough. Some of the jokes are lame and for some reason people keep getting bitten by small animals! The chemistry between McConaughey and Parker isn't fantastic, but their "relationship" is at least believable. The best performances are given by Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates as Trip's parents, Al and Sue. You've seen this movie before, but it's better than most of its kind.