This first directorial feature from Yes Man co-writers Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel is a lumpen, misjudged affair, pitched awkwardly between the sharp satire of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and the unresolved homoeroticism of Chuck & Buck, but utterly lacking the wit and sparkle of either. Jack Black is unpopular schlub Dan Landsman, who promises to bring advertising star Oliver Lawless (James Marsden) to his class reunion, thus attracting others. Faking his way to LA, Landsman meets and goes on the razz with Lawless, whose casual sex and drugs proclivities lead to unexpected encounters. There may be an interesting idea lurking in here somewhere, but any subversiveness is lost amid cod-indie gurning and comic bum notes. Kathryn Hahn looks on in horror, as well she might. The scene in which Lawless explains the penile technicalities of having a three-way to Landsman’s shy 14-year-old son (“stack ’em, like deckchairs!’) remains an unforgettable low point.
