I think I’ll skip the reception.
“The Outlaws” shamelessly rips off “Meet the Parents,” “Bonnie & Clyde,” “Ocean’s 11,” and “The In-Laws,” and I mean really shamelessly. Like it’s one of the worst comedies I’ve seen in recent memory. The kind that makes me wonder why everyone has to be an idiot or a dick or a sell-out. And the kind where you’re better off you’re better off watching the bride and groom cut up a faux cake at the reception, and then complaining afterwards about how they couldn’t use a real cake.
Adam Devine has proven himself to be an entertaining guy with his improvement on his Bumper character in “Pitch Perfect 2,” his sweet side in “Isn’t It Romantic,” and his Sam-I-Am voice work in the “Green Eggs and Ham” Netflix series. But he’s desperate in the role of Owen Browning, a bank manager, who is set to marry his yoga instructor girlfriend Parker (Nina Dobrev).
Her parents-Billy (Pierce Brosnan) and Lily (Ellen Barkin)-say they’re living with an Amazon tribe, which is why they originally couldn’t make it to the wedding. When they meet their future son-in-law for the first time, they have to participate in a series of mean-spirited gags. You know the kind of jokes regarding the parents who don’t really approve of Owen, make him go sky diving until he makes promises about not sleeping with their daughter, and drinking until he has to vomit the next day. You know what? It’s easy to say they think he’s a coward.
But they could also be known as the Ghost Bandits, because they knew Owen is a bank manger, they knew the safe code, one of them certain perfume on, and one of them has thing about Owen accidentally stepping on his heel, and then him giving him the quick Back-Off scare. And that’s when he has to act like an awkward goofball trying to make sense out of all this.
But of course, they had to rob the bank to pay off their money launderer Rehan (Poorna Jagannathan), or she’ll kill their daughter. That’s when they need Owen to help them pull off some bank heists. One them requires them to drive a bank truck at a graveyard. Now that’s respectful towards the deceased.
Maybe I did smile when Owen gets chased by miniature pinschers. But is it always supposed to be funny when he screams like a girl, or dress up as Shrek, or vomit, or cry out snot, or have a caterpillar go up his nose, or act like a coward in almost every freaking scene? It makes me glad I didn’t review “Jexi.”
You also get Richard Kind and Julie Hagerty as Owen’s parents, Lil Rel Howery and Laci Mosley as Owen’s friends, Lauren Laupkis as a famous banker, and Michael Rooker as the main detective, but none of them are funny here. In fact, everyone is crass in this movie. Devine, Dobrev, Brosnan and Barkin can also do better than succumb to the behaviors here.
The movie was directed by Tyler Spindel and produced by Adam Sandler, whose last collaboration together was “The Wrong Missy,” which was also a nasty piece of crap. Their latest film is no better. And the fact that you Netflix streamers would make this Number 1 this weekend depresses me.
The difference between “The Out-Laws” and “Joy Ride” in theaters (both of them are R-rated comedies) are “Joy Ride” is gross, mean, funny, and warmhearted, and “The Out-Laws” is gross, mean, unfunny, and coldhearted. If you had a choice between these two, take my advice.
Streaming on Netflix
Leave a Reply