PG-13, 1 hr. 38 min. Directed by: Jonathan Lynn. Release Date: October 29, 2010. DVD Release Date: February 8, 2011.
Every once in a while, it’s interesting
to see a foreign take on a traditional American genre, because, well, it’s
something that manages to be both familiar and different at the same time, and
I like that. Wild Target is fairly close to an American teen movie, although
with the exception of Rupert Grint, none of the cast members have been
teenagers anytime in the recent past. It
has the same feel as a teen film… that certain silliness that meets head on
against real life (or at least, potentially real life situations). The joy of having an older cast in a movie
like this is that it gives the movie a feeling of legitimacy without actually
removing that silly component.
And, given that this has a bunch of
Brits in it, it’s far more sophisticated.
There are no fart jokes, no diarrhea or masturbation scenes, and only a
hint at botched sexual exploits. The
comedy is also a little more physical and wee bit more understated than the
same films we make in the States. In
some ways I enjoyed this much more than similar comedies from the US, and in
others not so much.
Basically, I thought this was a fun way
to spend two hours. It wasn’t perfect,
but I’ve seen a good many similar movies that were far, far worse. I thought the story, while totally silly and without
real intellectual merit, was at least well written. I could (almost) see it happening in real
life, and there weren’t plot holes big enough to drive a Mac truck
through. That in itself was unexpected
and much appreciated.
When I gave this movie some thought,
using my head, I had a similar reaction.
This was a little better than the middle of the pack. All the elements seemed in the all the right
places, and there was nothing that was so hokey that I felt the need to either
moan or groan, and I’m pretty sure that I didn’t roll my eyes at all.
But, for me, the real saving grace was
the cast. I particularly liked Emily
Blunt (how could I not, right?) and Rupert Grint. I keep hoping that at least some of the
younger cast, now refugees, from the Harry
Potter films will find their way in to new careers with us Muggle types,
and I’m thinking that this was more proof that at least some of them will have
a future in the real world. We actually
want this. Look what happened to the
child stars of Diff’rent Strokes. I don’t want “like what life did to Emma
Watson” to be as bad as “like what life did to Dana Plato.”
Anyways, check this out. It’s fun without being ridiculous and a
little more restrained than your typical American comedy for young folks.
