First of all, I was a bit hesitant to venture in to the Providence Place Mall during the height of the Christmas shopping season. There's something about navigating the stormy sea of shoppers, bustling here and there in their frenzies without regard for any other fellow human that is a bit off-putting to me, but I concluded that I'd rather deal with that than pay the $10.50 (!) to see a movie I had planned on seeing anyway. So we met at the Food Court, got our tickets, and ventured in to the heart of the cinema to find the theater where the movie was being shown.
As we meandered the corridors on the Providence Place 16, we noticed a throng of people standing in line, the waiting area demarcated with purple velvet ropes. "What the fuck is this shit?" I announced eloquently as we fell in to the back of the queue. Apparently, since this was an advanced screening, there were no cameras or cell phones allowed in the theater. But that was okay - I really didn't mind turning my Sidekick off for the duration of the film (even though my compulsion to obsessively check the time would be severely stifled for the two hours I was sitting in the theater, I told myself I could make it through and went ahead and powered her down). But no, cell phones were not even allowed in the theater. Instead, you had to place your devices inside a brown paper lunch bag, which we initially thought might be bags of goodies they were handing out (sooo bummed that wasn't the case). Then they gave you a little raffle ticket which you would use to reclaim your belongings upon the conclusion of the film. Buhhh, fine.
The movie started a little late, but that was okay because there were no previews (! again). All in all, it was a really funny flick. John C. Reilly played his character extremely well - very convincing as the ridiculous bard Dewey Cox. There were also tons of cameos: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Jack White, Jason Schwartzmann, Justin Long, Ghostface Killah, the guy who plays Darryl in The Office, Lyle Lovett, Jonah Hill, etc. A prevalent theme throughout the movie was the rampant nudity (hey, dude was a rock star, right?). And not just boobies, either. Disturbingly enough, there were three instances of full frontal male nudity. That's right. I saw full-on peen. Thrice. The frat boys sitting in the row in front of us were desperately trying to shield their eyes from the on-screen genitals, although I'm unsure as to why. It's my understanding that 85% of fraternity hazing rituals not involving beer somehow include the showing and placing of testicles upon another. Hmm. Oh well.
The best part of the movie, though, the absolute highlight at least for me, was this:
No, not John C. Reilly's inexplicably shorn belly - Jenna Fischer. On several occasions, Tim had to remind me to settle down. (I'm a huge Jenna Fischer fan. Like huge. Like I love her. Not in the creepy stalker way [although some think that my attraction to her borders on it] but in the "she is so funny and cute and if she asked me to marry her I would in a heartbeat" kinda way. Just sayin'.)
All in all, I give the movie a B. It was good overall, and the comedy was relatively high. Some aspects were completely ridiculous, even for a Judd Apatow flick, and a bit over the top. I mean I didn't really need to see dudemeat. But it's definitely worth a watch. At least once.
