THEY CAME TOGETHER directed by David Wain, written by Michael Showalter and Wain, with Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Meloni and Max Greenfield. An Entertainment One release. 84 minutes. Opens Friday (June 27). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
A romantic comedy for people sick of romantic comedies, David Wain’s They Came Together deconstructs the bullshit clichés and contrivances of the genre with genuine edge. It’s hysterically funny and not the least bit heartwarming, which is why it works.
Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, who first tested out their weird chemistry in Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer, are Joel and Molly, two Manhattanites who should hate each other because his giant candy conglomerate is opening a megastore across the street from her tiny, quirky Upper West Side sweetshop. But they fall in love anyway, because that’s what happens in You’ve Got Mail.
They Came Together isn’t quite as coherent as previous Wain joints like Role Models or Wanderlust, but that’s okay. Rom-coms are basically a collection of rote scenes at this point, so the film unfolds like a series of sketches, the fantastic, enthusiastic cast skewering one lame convention after another.
Christopher Meloni, Ellie Kemper, Max Greenfield and Wain’s old pal Michael Ian Black are particular standouts, but the movie’s real MVP is… nah, I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it. You’ll know him when you see him.
