cwigtil-75624

The writers decided to bring in a babysitting plot with a dozen non-characters who are neither funny nor cute-in other words, annoying. And destructive. And I think the joke is supposed to be that there's no stopping them because they...somehow have to be in tow because Harley is suddenly idiotically taking them to inappropriate places. Like are they trying to write this for kids? There's even a fight involving pool noodles which somehow leaves opponents bloody. I'm not even kidding. And this is the A plot.

The B plot is a throwaway love story that is also an origin story-season 5 is a little late to introduce this. And frankly the antagonist of that story is pretty one-note, and kind of doesn't develop anyone or anything-just creates another useless villain.

Lake Bell is the stand-out actress but there's no saving this episode.

It's a shame that she and Aisha Tyler are wasted on this, the least-entertaining episode since "mashed-potato Harley."

This is written so badly. A character who hates flowers? Who walks into a store with an old Help Wanted sign that clearly is old and just checks to see if the door that has been locked for weeks is open? A character named "Lily Blossom Bloom"? That is literally an unfunny meta-joke within the movie? Who returns home for her father's funeral but then walks out of the service?

Okay on to the acting-Blake is basically "All I should do is smile and laugh and that's the extent of my range of flirting interactions." The younger version of Lily actually seems to care about nurturing life and having interests. Older/Blake version seems like she's a teenager still scrapbooking and sketching and gluing things and otherwise stunted and, frankly, bored with life. Her acting is unnatural. Jenny Slate does her best to be proactive and reactive but she relies too much on her comedic timing as facilitator of a punchline rather than moving forward a dramatic scene.

Justin tries but it just doesn't work. Blake has no chemistry with him, but this is true of her with everyone she's in a scene with. She seems to think that the attention from other characters just belongs on her in every scene. It's also clear she hasn't rehearsed well because nothing flows naturally.

It's a shame, because the subject matter deserves serious treatment. But this movie doesn't get the job done.

Four stars because the whole is more than the sum its parts, and the ending is a little too pat.

It's unfortunate when I see a movie like this, where the conceit is solid and the screenplay is also solid. The pacing is driven by the plot, rather than what is called for by the scene. Comedic moments are ruined by both the lack of chemistry between the leads (Evans and Johnson), and also by the edit, and also by the lack of imagination of the director. If you have a protagonist stepping into a magical world, the jokes are all about the disbelief in the magical. It's more like, "This happens, then this, then this" instead of scenes progressing logically. Lucy Liu still underacts, which is her modus operandi, but she's at least a little better here.

Still, the main problem here is The Rock. He's taken stoicism to the point of indifference. For a man who can be funny, it seems like he's taking acting jobs for a paycheck. Evans is not up to the task for a role that really should have gone to a sketch comedian, but at least he's trying.

Overall, it's a soulless trudge, but your kids might like it.