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'Good Time' delivers raunchy laughs
By Christy Lemire |
September 9, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE whole point of calling a phone-sex line is that you know what you're getting, right? You pick up the phone, pay your money and partake in some, um, self-satisfaction. It's a sure thing. Everyone hangs up happy.
With the comedy "For a Good Time, Call ...," you only think you know what you're getting. It looks like total formula and - for a little while, at least - feels like it, with its broad types who are complete opposites getting thrown together in a contrived, high-concept situation: operating a phone-sex business out of a Manhattan apartment they're forced to share.
But actresses Ari Graynor and Lauren Anne Miller have such a light and lovely chemistry with each other, and director Jamie Travis keeps things moving so briskly, you find yourself not minding the by-the-numbers story. Yet, within that story, there end up being enough surprises and subversive twists that you find yourself unexpectedly charmed.
Miller co-wrote "For a Good Time, Call ..." with her college roommate, Katie Anne Naylon, who really did run a phone-sex line out of her dorm room because she needed the cash. Comparisons to last year's hugely successful "Bridesmaids" are inevitable, given that it features women saying and doing the sort of raunchy things that previously had been the staples of Judd Apatow's bro-centric oeuvre. They actually finished their script before "Bridesmaids" had even been shot.
Graynor and Miller's characters are miles apart emotionally, though, at the film's start. Graynor's Katie is a brassy party girl with a wardrobe full of animal prints and a stripper pole in the middle of her living room. Miller's Lauren is conservative and precise, all headbands and innocent nighties, a young woman of privilege who had her entire life mapped out - including, she thought, marriage to her longtime boyfriend, Charlie (James Wolk).
Then Charlie dumps her, calls her "boring" and kicks her out of their apartment, leaving Lauren with no place to live. When her best gay pal (Justin Long) suggests he has a roommate for her, she's shocked to find it's Katie, her college nemesis. But Katie is also desperately in need of a roommate to avoid being kicked out of her own place.
Naturally, they clash at first, but eventually learn to tolerate each other. Then, when Lauren discovers Katie is moaning and groaning into the telephone for one of her many gigs, she realizes with her business acumen, they could both make a whole lot more money.
The curvy and vivacious Graynor, who's stood out in supporting roles in films including "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and "Celeste and Jesse Forever," has a likable and very different kind of presence as a leading lady. And Miller, who has an undeniable sweetness and accessibility about her, plays beautifully off Graynor.
Yes, there are the obligatory montages as the women take in the calls and rake in the cash, but the graphic one-liners and the lightning-quick editing keep the laughs coming steadily. There are even some inspired cameos among the men on the other end of the line.
For the most part, "For a Good Time, Call ..." is exactly as advertised.
With the comedy "For a Good Time, Call ...," you only think you know what you're getting. It looks like total formula and - for a little while, at least - feels like it, with its broad types who are complete opposites getting thrown together in a contrived, high-concept situation: operating a phone-sex business out of a Manhattan apartment they're forced to share.
But actresses Ari Graynor and Lauren Anne Miller have such a light and lovely chemistry with each other, and director Jamie Travis keeps things moving so briskly, you find yourself not minding the by-the-numbers story. Yet, within that story, there end up being enough surprises and subversive twists that you find yourself unexpectedly charmed.
Miller co-wrote "For a Good Time, Call ..." with her college roommate, Katie Anne Naylon, who really did run a phone-sex line out of her dorm room because she needed the cash. Comparisons to last year's hugely successful "Bridesmaids" are inevitable, given that it features women saying and doing the sort of raunchy things that previously had been the staples of Judd Apatow's bro-centric oeuvre. They actually finished their script before "Bridesmaids" had even been shot.
Graynor and Miller's characters are miles apart emotionally, though, at the film's start. Graynor's Katie is a brassy party girl with a wardrobe full of animal prints and a stripper pole in the middle of her living room. Miller's Lauren is conservative and precise, all headbands and innocent nighties, a young woman of privilege who had her entire life mapped out - including, she thought, marriage to her longtime boyfriend, Charlie (James Wolk).
Then Charlie dumps her, calls her "boring" and kicks her out of their apartment, leaving Lauren with no place to live. When her best gay pal (Justin Long) suggests he has a roommate for her, she's shocked to find it's Katie, her college nemesis. But Katie is also desperately in need of a roommate to avoid being kicked out of her own place.
Naturally, they clash at first, but eventually learn to tolerate each other. Then, when Lauren discovers Katie is moaning and groaning into the telephone for one of her many gigs, she realizes with her business acumen, they could both make a whole lot more money.
The curvy and vivacious Graynor, who's stood out in supporting roles in films including "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and "Celeste and Jesse Forever," has a likable and very different kind of presence as a leading lady. And Miller, who has an undeniable sweetness and accessibility about her, plays beautifully off Graynor.
Yes, there are the obligatory montages as the women take in the calls and rake in the cash, but the graphic one-liners and the lightning-quick editing keep the laughs coming steadily. There are even some inspired cameos among the men on the other end of the line.
For the most part, "For a Good Time, Call ..." is exactly as advertised.
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