Halfway through A.C.O.D. (Adult
Children of Divorce), Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest is referenced. Wilde’s satirical farce, which
reveals the venality and hollowness of the upper class in their pursuit of
values they can’t even recognize, is so wickedly funny that even if you can’t
quite grasp the subtleties of his language, you can’t help but laugh at the
tone. What’s sad is that A.C.O.D. alludes
to this comedy, but can’t be bothered to do anything remotely funny. For a
movie whose premise is ripe with opportunity for satire, it plays more like a
drama dressed up as a comedy.
The film follows a neurotic guy named Carter (Adam Scott) whose entire
life has been messed up by his narcissistic parents (Richard Jenkins and
Catherine O’Hara). When Carter’s brother (Clarke Duke) announces his
engagement, Carter finds his world turned upside-down. He seeks the help of a
former therapist (Jane Lynch), whom he discovers wasn’t a therapist at all, but
a researcher who documented his childhood in a book called Children of Divorce. And when his efforts to create a civil
relationship between his parents creates an even bigger, more unexpected
problem, Carter is forced to face his psychological issues head-on.
Director Stu Zicherman really wants us to laugh at Carter’s pain. He
wants us to laugh at his oblivious parents, whose me-first mentality constantly
screws over their level-headed son. He wants us to enjoy Jane Lynch’s
unorthodox research questions. But the movie never connects with the funny
bone. It’s like Zicherman and co-writer Ben Karlin watched the TV series Arrested Development and thought they
could make something like that for the big screen, but with more pathos. But
the reason Arrested Development worked
is exactly what is missing from A.C.O.D.:
absurdity.
Everything the characters in A.C.O.D.
do makes perfect sense. It’s completely logical. When Carter’s parents start up
a torrid affair and use Carter as a go-between, no one would say that’s crazy.
When Carter tries reasoning with his parents, and they turn his words around to
make him look like the heel, it plays as tragedy. Part of good comedy is
blowing situations out of proportion and testing their elasticity, or throwing
in some awkward element that functions like a bomb, shaking up the status quo.
As I watched this movie, I spent most of its short running time (88 minutes)
cringing and wondering how many people would watch see their own families without
a shred of irony.
It’s sad to watch a comedy that would function better as drama.
Other thoughts:
* Not only is the movie unfunny on a situational level, but there wasn’t
even one memorable line of dialogue. This script has no one-liners. Its symbols
lack humor, too. For example, Carter, who owns a restaurant, calls the place
Whitegrass. One would hope the name might create some funny dialogue, or even a
humorous reveal of its origin. But, no, its name is based on a detail born
directly out of Carter’s awful childhood. Fail.
*What a waste of great comedic talent. Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins,
Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, Mary-Elizabeth Winstead, Amy Poehler, Clarke
Duke. This is a terrific cast, and it sucks that each is given nothing
interesting to do – unless you consider seeing Jenkins’ old man ass during sex
interesting.
* The casting of Jessica Alba as another child of divorce was
intriguing, but the movie does nothing with her. Her storyline is dropped;
nothing consequential happens because of her involvement. She is a shadow
character.
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