Girl Most Likely is the most predictable, ridiculous and dumb film I have seen in years. I wouldn't even have minded making this statement had the film not been full of typical, stale sitcom scenarios. This is a film that features very appealing actors doing very unappealing things. It is obnoxious, insulting and beyond cliche. When film professors teach their class how not to make a comedy or a drama...they should show their students Girl Most Likely. The dramatic moments ring completely false and there is one (1) funny moment throughout its overlong 100 minutes.
The film stars Kristen Wiig as Imogene...a once promising playwright whose boyfriend (Brian Petsos) dumps her. In an attempt to win him back...she overdoses on sleeping pills and ends up back in the care of her sleazy mother, Zelda (Annette Bening.) When Imogene arrives back to Zelda's home in Ocean City, New Jersey....she discovers that her mom has a new boyfriend named George (Matt Dillon) and a mysterious man named Lee (Darren Criss) is living in her room. She also attempts to reunite with her brother, Ralph (Christopher Fitzgerald)...an eccentric but smart inventor.
I really like all the actors involved in this film. I love directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's incredible debut, American Splendor. However, here...no one feels like a real person. They all just feel like cardboard cut outs of sitcom characters. This can be put on writer Michelle Morgan whose only other work is the shockingly funny slice of life comedy Middle Of Nowhere. Here...it seems as if Morgan was just picking random cliches out of a hat. The stuff involving George is supposed to be funny but falls completely flat. Then again...so does the rest of the film. The character of Ralph is meant to tug at the heartstrings but just ends up being irritating. Imogene is supposed to be a sympathetic character but is just obnoxious. Zelda is supposed to be someone to root for after a while but is always trashy in the audience's eyes. The only character I liked was Lee. Granted...he didn't feel like a real person, either. However, Criss brings a likability to the role that I can't imagine anyone else bringing to Lee. I'd love to see Criss in a far better film sometime. Better yet...I'll say that this whole film should have been about him.
The film's jokes aren't funny in their set up to begin with. They all feel like they should be on Everybody Loves Raymond or Roseanne and not on a film that you pay 10 dollars to go see. However, the jokes are made worse by the fact that none of them really have a punchline. They are all told until eventually they die out from being so unfunny. Example...there is a montage scene of Ralph trying to fit in the fast paced world of New York City. He does this by walking around both in and with a metal turtle shell that he made. This is not a funny idea to begin with. I mean...anything can be funny but this doesn't have much potential to start with. This is made worse by the fact that there's really no joke here. He walks around in and with the shell until the directors realize that the audience is getting bored and then it stops. This is a summary of every attempted joke in the film.
To put it gently....Girl Most Likely is not merely a bad film but an intolerable one. I honestly can't see anyone in their right mind enjoying this garbage. Every second is flat and the film is really depressing for a comedy. Yet...at the end of this film...writer Morgan tries to cover up the depressing tone with a conveniently out of left field upbeat ending. A message to Ms. Morgan---your film didn't work in the first place so don't expect audiences to be happy with a happy ending.
(1 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language)
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