A raunchy, fast-paced comedy about two mismatched girlfriends running a phone sex line from out of their apartment? Sounds like a potential gold mine for studios in this post-Bridesmaids landscape, and that would be right since For A Good Time, Call...turned out to be one of Sundance's biggest sales, bought for a cool $2M. It's a major win for first time scribe and the film's star, Lauren Anne Miller, but whether Focus Features made a wise buy is another story.
Ari Graynor is one of the most talented young comediennes working today, but it's usually been in scene stealing performances in films led by someone else. She gets her first real shot to shine as Katie, a bubbly sex pot who when we first meet her is workin' a stripper pole like a pro. Not that she's a stripper, it's just a pole she keeps in her apartment for exercise. That's just who she is. Katie oozes sex, and she excitedly delights in cultivating her image. There's just one problem. Her rent has gone up, and facing eviction in just a few days she's in desperate need of lifeline.
On the other end of the spectrum is Lauren(Miller), who has just been dumped by her boring, douchebag boyfriend because he grew tired of their same old routines. While he flew to Italy to have an adventure, Lauren's world quickly falls apart. A straight-laced girl who wears frumpy clothes and appears to have no social life, Lauren is completely unprepared for any amount of uncertainty. No place to live, and unable to stay with her flaming, porn-mustachioed best friend Jesse(Justin Long), she's on the verge of being out on the street. Jesse, who has been friends with both for years, comes up with the wild idea to have Lauren and Katie be roommates. This would be a tremendous thought to have if both women weren't nursing a grudge over an unfortunate mishap involving urine and a bumpy stretch of road.
With nowhere else to go, the two decided to give it a trial run, and despite a rocky start they begin warming up to one another. Lauren has her eyes set on working at a major publisher, while Katie gets by doing whatever work she can find, including working as a phone sex girl. When Lauren suddenly loses her job, and prospects start to look dim, she agrees to help Katie create and expand her own phone sex business.
Graynor is the star of the show, and she continues to be as effervescent as ever. What makes her so charming is her utter commitment to every single role, regardless of how small it may be. Her comedic timing is always spot on, and she's one of the few who can make an unfunny film watchable. Such is the case here, as For A Good Time, Call...gives the impression someone had a really cool idea for a five minute skit, but artificially inflated it with eighty minutes of comedy filler just to make a feature film. After about the fifth or sixth time you hear the ladies talk about dildos or say the "F" word, it starts to wear a little thin, and it becomes obvious that the only hook of the story is hot chicks saying really nasty things. That's something that is definitely worth supporting in small doses, but a good movie it doesn't make.
Miller, who co-wrote the script with Katie Anne Naylon, clearly is aiming to make a feel good, crowd pleasing comedy, although it's curious she felt the way to achieve this was by being as potty-mouthed as possible. There's little in the way of conflict between Katie and Lauren, which makes it harder to invest in their staying friends, but also demands that a number of ridiculous diversionary subplots to fill up time. So we get momentary distractions like a religious zealot infiltrating the business, Lauren's parents constantly coming over at the worst possible moment(think Jim's dad in American Pie), and Lauren's budding relationship with one of her regular callers(Mark Webber). None of these amount to much, and by the time some major revelations are dropped on us out of nowhere(neither woman is exactly who she seems), it's hard to care.
Other than Graynor, a number of hilarious cameos keep the film afloat at various points. Kevin Smith, and Miller's new husband Seth Rogen, pop up to play the guys enjoying themselves(a little too much) on the other end of the line. Miller, in what is also her first major lead role, holds her own opposite Graynor's wild energy.
If Focus has designs on making this their own little version of Bridesmaids, then perhaps they'd be wise to note what made that film work. It wasn't just that it was full of gross out gags, but that it wasn't utterly reliant on them for laughs. What kept people coming back was the humor found in the real bonds between all those women. For A Good Time, Call is good for a chuckle or two, but never taps into anything real enough to be memorable.
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