Wanderlust: A 'one-joke hippie comedy'?

Fish-out-of-water urbanites Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd find themselves stuck in a commune — and all the cinematic cliches that come with it

Wanderlust
(Image credit: Facebook/Wanderlust)

In this weekend's raunchy new comedy Wanderlust, Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston play an uptight couple who are forced out of their Manhattan "micro-loft" when he loses his job and she fails to tempt HBO with her documentary about penguins with testicular cancer. The stranded duo stumble upon the hippie commune Elysium, where they encounter nudists, free love, LSD, and a slew of other hippie tropes. (Watch the trailer below.) So much of the film's fish-out-of-water humor is mined from those cliches that some are branding Wanderlust a "one-joke hippie comedy." Does a strong ensemble, which includes Alan Alda, Justin Theroux, Judd Apatow favorite Kathryn Hahn, and Six Feet Under's Lauren Ambrose, overcome the script's monotony?

The actors make it all worthwhile: The "peace and free love and beverages made of twigs" jokes are certainly anachronistic, says Lisa Schwartzbaum at Entertainment Weekly. But the film's actors redeem them. It's fun to see the clean-cut Rudd fearlessly "rolling in happy raunch," while Aniston is in her element, "secure in the knowledge that for every inch of propriety she's willing to cede, Paul Rudd is ready to get 10 times as crazy for a grateful nation." The dynamite supporting cast relishes the hippie cliches, turning them to comedy gold with "goofy gusto."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us