Failure to Launch (2006)
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A thirty-five-year-old man living with his parents is targeted by a professional 'expert' hired to trick him into moving out.
The story
Thirty-five-year-old Tripp lives with his parents, Al and Sue, in Baltimore, despite having a job and social life. When his casual girlfriends discover his living situation, they often dump him. His parents, frustrated by his lack of independence, hire Paula, an expert who specializes in moving men out of their parents' homes. Paula's strategy involves building a romantic relationship with the man to transfer his emotional attachment from his parents to her. However, Tripp proves to be an unusual case for her methods, as he possesses high self-esteem and normal social skills, complicating her professional approach.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Tripp lives at home in Baltimore with his parents, Al and Sue, and his friends Demo and Ace also live with their parents. After Tripp's girlfriends repeatedly dump him for living at home, Al and Sue hire Paula, a woman who claims to help men move out by building a romantic bond with them. Paula begins dating Tripp, but he eventually realizes she is getting too attached and tries to stage an awkward encounter with his parents to end things. Paula, however, develops real feelings and refuses to let him go. They eventually confide in their friends, where Paula's housemate Kit suggests Paula is a con artist. It is revealed that Tripp stays at home because his life collapsed after his fiancée died. Ace discovers Paula's scam and blackmails her for a date with Kit, eventually 'outing' her to Demo, who tells Tripp. Tripp confronts his parents and Paula, breaks up with her, and moves onto a sailboat. His parents and friends later orchestrate a plan to reconcile the two by locking them in a room together. Paula confesses her feelings, Tripp forgives her, and the film ends with them sailing away together.
- First release year
- 2006
- Runtime (minutes)
- 96
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Tom Dey
- Writers
- Tom J. Astle · writer; Matt Ember · writer
- Cast and characters
- Matthew McConaughey · Tripp; Sarah Jessica Parker · Paula; Zooey Deschanel · Kit; Justin Bartha · Demo; Bradley Cooper · Ace; Terry Bradshaw · Al; Kathy Bates · Sue
- Genres
- romantic comedy
- Themes
- independence; grief; self-esteem; manipulation
- Tone and mood
- romantic comedy; formulaic
- Premise and plot tags
- rom-com; parental conflict; scam
- Reception
- The film was a commercial success but received generally negative critical reviews.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 23% · review count: 150; Metacritic · score: 47 · scale: 100 · review count: 31
- Production trivia
- The rock climbing scenes were filmed in Cherokee Rock Village in Leesburg, Alabama.; One of the chipmunks used in the film was killed when a handler slipped on the set and fell, crushing the chipmunk.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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