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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 47 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    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. Read full review

  • 75
    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." Read full review

  • 60
    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. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Brian Lowry

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

  • 50
    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. Read full review

  • 50
    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. Read full review

  • 50
    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. Read full review

  • 50
    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. Read full review

  • 25
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

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

  • 25
    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. Read full review

View more reviews for Failure to Launch on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Formulaic romcom isn't meant for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie may not appeal to teens, who probably don't care much about an immature 35-year-old. The movie includes frequent comic sexual references. The film opens on a date that ends with a couple in bed, Tripp's parents appear in bed together (and Terry Bradshaw appears naked in one scene, with fish tank judiciously placed to hide his privates). Paula pretends to have her ailing dog put to sleep (and cries about it) in order to win Tripp's sympathy; they have sex one night in his bedroom (you see parents listening to moans and squeals). Several scenes of comic violence. Lots of drinking.
  • Families can talk about the phenomenon of adult children living with their parents. How does Tripp's perpetual adolescence affect his parents? Why is Tripp so afraid to grow up? Does the movie glamorize "the bachelor lifestyle"? What stereotypes does this movie rely upon?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Paula is hired to seduce Tripp; the adolescent-adult male character is a tired cliché.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Tripp is bitten by various animals, falls off a short cliff, crashes his bike; someone shoots a bird, which is then resuscitated.
  • sex false3 Sex: Sexual situations include innuendo, activity in bed; " interventionist" is hired to seduce hero away from living at his parents. Naked male backside.
  • language false3 Language: Some profanity, including f-word and a few mentions of s---t.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Cars (Porsche), Mint Milanos, Apple and Dell laptops.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of drinking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

1.5

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