The story plays out in flashback as Joel and Molly (Rudd and Poehler) recount their movie-like romance to friends (Hader and Kemper) over dinner. Of course, New York is another character in their story, in which she runs a charming candy shop and he's a "not too handsome or too Jewish" corporate raider. From a meet-cute to an energetic first sexual encounter, their relationship goes through giddy highs and emotional lows ("Your dreams don't pay for the rent!"). And it plays out like a series of heightened cinematic set-pieces.

There isn't a single movie cliche left out, from every concievable montage sequences to a series of best pals (Mantzoukas, Lynskey), relatives (Greenfield, Cohen), coworkers (Meloni, Parris) and exes (Smulders, Morgan) who are involved a variety of improbable breakups and reunions. From outrageous idiocy to slathered-on sappiness, there isn't a moment wasted. The riotously obvious script is packed with silly details and surreal jokes, performed impeccably by the sprawling ensemble cast.

With lesser actors, this relentless nonsense could have turned out like a painful cross between Mel Brooks and Zucker-Abrams-Zucker, but Rudd and Poehler add the necessary zing to hold our interest and keep us laughing at the dense onslaught of visual and verbal gags, as well as a string of every expected plot twist imaginable. There's also a nonstop flow of amusing cameos from the starry likes of Adam Scott, John Stamos, Michael Shannon and Norah Jones. So even if it feels trite and predictable, it's never dull.

It's also a clever take on how we see life as if it's a movie (is yours a comedy or tearjerker?) punctuated by holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. So the endless camera-winking has some resonance. But in the end, the zany joke feels like it's stretched far too long. Wain and Showalter seem happy to make movie that's simply ridiculous and very funny, which it is. If it was also genuinely charming, it might have been a classic.

themes, language, sexuality, violence

27.Apr.14 slf