There has never been a shortage of bad romantic comedies in Hollywood. For every rare one that works, such as “Annie Hall” and, more recently, “(500) Days of Summer,” there are at least a dozen like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” or as I like to call it, “How to Lose Your Lunch in 10 Minutes.”
“They Came Together” is a zany spoof of romantic comedies in the style of “Airplane!” that massacres all the genre’s clichés and tropes. It stars the immensely likable and talented Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler as lovers that tell the story of how they got together to another couple out at dinner one night. They admit outright that their story is a “corny, romantic comedy kind of story.” Joel is a “typical romantic comedy leading man” who is “handsome but in a non-threatening way” and “vaguely but not overtly Jewish,” and Molly is a “cute, klutzy girl that sometimes will drive you a little bit crazy but you can’t help but fall in love with her.” There is also a third character to this love story: New York City itself.
Joel is a corporate drone who works for a giant company that produces candy and is trying to shut down any competition in the city, even Mom and Pop stores. It just so happens that Molly runs a quirky little candy shop literally in the shadow of the company’s skyscraper. When the two first meet, they argue and do not like each other at all. But as these films go, they end up falling for each other, and Joel realizes love is more important than climbing the corporate ladder.
After giving a brief plot synopsis, it is hard to review a spoof film such as this without just giving away some of the gags. The style of the humor is similar to “Airplane!” and early Woody Allen films where the idea is to throw every gag on screen and see what sticks. No joke, pun or sight gag is too stupid or corny to leave out. Some fall flat, but there is such a barrage of them that a good one will come a few seconds later. Here is a typical joke: after a night of lovemaking, the camera follows a trail of discarded clothes up to the bed only to discover the couple lying in bed fully clothed. Another cliché the film skewers is when the woman’s breasts are perfectly concealed under the bedsheets in the PG-13 romantic comedies it is spoofing. Early in the film, Joel’s first girlfriend wakes up and stretches her arms above her head while the bedsheets miraculously stay attached to her chest.
At only 83 minutes, the film is wisely brief. As with many spoof films, the first half of the film is more consistently funny than the second half. A film this silly and unconcerned with narrative cohesion or actual character development is hard to sustain for over 45 minutes. It is a film probably best enjoyed with a group of friends who know the genre it is spoofing well.
It is directed and co-written by David Wain, who made the films “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Role Models,” as well as created the television series “The State” and “Stella.” This is the type of comedy one either goes along with and laughs at or sits in silence wondering what is supposed to be funny. Even though it starts to run out of steam in the second half, I laughed pretty hard and often at the absurdity of “They Came Together” throughout.