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Failure to Launch
Paramount Pictures


5.8

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 38 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity and language

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, and Kathy Bates

Tripp (McConaughey) has never been able to leave the nest. He's always had some reason or other, but now, his desperate parents (Bradshaw, Bates) have had enough. They hire the gorgeous and talented girl of his dreams (Parker) to get him to move out of the house. (Paramount Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Tom J. Astle Matt Ember
DIRECTED BY:	Tom Dey
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 27, 2006 Theatrical: March 10, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

New York Post Kyle Smith

This is a guy comedy being mismarketed as a chick flick, complete with a poster that looks like a page from Lucky magazine.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie is one of the best American films in months and months and the best comedy since I don't know when. It even makes you sorta kinda like Matthew McConaughey.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

"The Family Stone" did nothing for Parker, but Failure to Launch makes a strong case for life after "Sex and the City."

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

There's comfort in seeing actors we know doing what we've come to expect them to do. But more important, the film surrounds them with supporting characters who are less familiar to us, who act in ways we don't expect.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie brings to mind the more polite parts of "Wedding Crashers." Failure to Launch, while totally exuberant and appealingly made, is not nearly as randy.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Bradshaw, who is funnier than you might suspect, also turns out to be the most fearless of performers.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

That there's precious little chemistry between buffed-and-tanned stars Parker and McConaughey is only the first of this slight, overly busy film's problems.

Variety Brian Lowry

An especially slight romantic comedy whose modest charms are derived largely from its supporting players.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The movie has only the most tenuous connection with reality. But the same could be said of classic 30's screwball comedies in which the treacherous feints and ploys of the mating game are transmuted into witty, romantically charged repartee.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Failure to Launch fails at more than just launching. It fails at romance and comedy.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Deschanel, as the token oddball of the gang, runs off with the movie.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Failure to Launch has all the gravitas of a midseason-replacement sitcom.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

If you like Kathy Bates movies, you'll probably be frustrated with this one, since as Tripp's mother, the invaluable character actress is made to whipsaw between playing sappy domestic slave to her son's laundry and salty, overly sexual wife.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Failure to Launch sounds like really bad Oscar Wilde, but it's not that good. You are not supposed to dislike anybody here.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker look and act, quite attractively, like grown-ups, and their easy rapport makes them convincing and appealing as an on-screen couple. So all throughout Failure to Launch, I found myself wishing they were in a different movie, maybe one as sophisticated as "The Philadelphia Story," which the movie references, but doesn't remotely live up to.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Thanks largely to Ms. Parker and to the delectable Zooey Deschanel as her anhedonic house-mate, the filmmakers still manage to squeeze some juice out.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

McConaughey and Parker get stranded with thanklessly predictable scenes, while Zooey Deschanel, Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw garner the film's few laughs.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Suffers from the problem that plagues too many romantic comedies: The supporting characters are roughly 1,000 percent more interesting than the main characters.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Deschanel may not be as brilliant as the great comedian Gracie Allen (and, at any rate, it's too soon to tell). But her Rube Goldberg timing (which only seems indirect) and blissfully zonked demeanor suggest the spirit of Allen. She's the only actor in Failure to Launch who isn't earthbound; she leaves everyone else in the dust simply by hanging back.

Premiere Allison Williams

Though McConaughey has proven himself game for romantic comedy contrivance in the past, his charisma is all wrong for the immature Tripp.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Somehow the screwball concoction does not jell. The stars are pleasant but unexciting, the goofy ensemble has a few moments of hilarity but never catches fire, the laughs are very scattered and the film's title is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The only bright spot--beyond McConaughey's boyish Southern charm and a pleasant soundtrack--is Zooey Deschanel as Parker's acid-tongued roommate, whose quirks include alcoholism and nihilism. Someone really should tell Deschanel that she's already too big and too good for thankless Eve Arden roles.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Even by the low standards of high-concept Hollywood rom-coms, this charmless, prophetically titled stinker stands apart, suggesting that the recent mass firings at studio Paramount may not have been such a bad idea after all.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson

What's amazing is how far McConaughey carries this nonsense despite his total lack of chemistry with Parker and almost Zen-like indifference to his circumstances.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Apocalyptically awful romantic comedy.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Cursed with an honest title, Failure to Launch waves a white flag in scene after scene, declaring surrender. We give up! We do not know how to make a decent mainstream romantic comedy!

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Parker is bland throughout. Maybe all those episodes of "Sex and the City" have soured her on this sort of thing.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The movie's notion of humor is exemplified by Bradshaw's extended nude scene, which might be termed "roughing the viewer."

Film Threat Felix Vasques Jr.

A film that normally someone like Adam Sandler would star in, but for some reason Matthew McConaughey decided to star and show that he's still not funny.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The premise is misbegotten, the chemistry non-existent and the dialogue leaden. Did we mention how tediously the plot unfolds?

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

During the course of Failure to Launch, characters are bitten by a chipmunk, a dolphin, a lizard and a mockingbird. I am thinking my hardest why this is considered funny, and I confess defeat.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.8 (out of 10) based on 38 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Peter J. gave it a6:
Sarah Jessica Parker is awful in this movie. There was no chemistry at all between her and Matthew. Despite that, Terry Bradshaw gave me a few laughs. The movie was so far out there, that I couldn't just stop watching it, which is why it gets a 6. It probably deserves worse.

J H gave it a6:
Not the best romantic comedy I've seen, but not the worst either. It was, for the most part, entertaining. Worth renting.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Another movie where the parents bring depth to the family issues. Worked in Raymond & Sienfeld; works here.

Nicola D. gave it an8:
Its a fun comedy. It's not earthshattering, but its amusing. For the life of me I don't know why anyone would spend the time writing a 700+ word review on such a light weight movie!! Its entertainment it doesn't need to be over-analysed.

Matthew M. gave it a4:
By no means am I a movie critic, but this movie has bad acting, bad comedy and bad chemistry.

Marek B. gave it an8:
Interesting film, good and enjoyably worth a look. Just not the best film ever.

Lisa F. gave it a10:
Truly the feel good movie you want to go see. Laugh out loud or just chuckle, you can't help but enjoy yourself here (even if it is just because you are thankful you never had this happen to you!) [***SPOILERS***] Sarah Jessica Parker comes across as genuine and relateable, and you feel happy for her when she realizes she has finally found The One, even though you are sad because you know what has to happen next -- The Reveal. Matthew McConaughey is delightful and fun. Kind of the boy next store, big brother we all wanted. He lends a spontenaity and charm to the character that helps draw us into his world and root for his success. While I love Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw, and am happy to see them "show" the older couple as loving and sexual partners after all those years, I could have gone the rest of my life without seeing Terry's butt! Take a friend or a girlfriend and check out Failure To Launch.

Failure to Launch Paramount Pictures

Failure to Launch
Paramount Pictures