HangingOutHookingUpFallingInLove is the worst movie title I’ve seen in a long time. It pretty much screams of Gen X-er trying to be hip with the kids and using words like “hanging out” and “hooking up,” and making them all one mashed-up word because that’s what the grammatical errors look like on MySpace or something. How are you supposed to read that title without your head hurting? And how does that title say anything other than “Trite and quirky love story!”
In any case, a list of fairly decent actors have managed to get talked into this inane-seeming movie, including Janeane Garofalo, Camryn Manheim, Jenna Elfman and Carrie-Anne Moss. Variety says the movie is about a newly-divorced father learning to date again, all the while watching his son try to woo his first love. Sounds kinda like Me and You and Everyone We Know. Sounds kinda like Little Manhattan. Oh, hell, sounds kinda like every twee romantic comedy made in the last 15 years.
Camryn Manheim, Jenna Elfman and Janeane Garofalo have all proved their comedy chops in one way or another, and another cast member, Rita Rudner, has had her own show on the Vegas strip for years. You assume they’ll be part of a parade of women that the guy dates in order to “move on,” though the fact that the movie is written and directed by a woman (Barra Grant) might mean there’s some variety in the female characters. Either way, no cast could convince me to support a movie with such a ridiculous and desperate title. Call it a title that a grown-up wouldn’t be embarrassed to buy a ticket for, and then we’ll talk.
