Wanderlust

Husband and I went to see Wanderlust on Friday night. For reasons obvious to people who know me well, a story about a married couple living at hippie commune was very appealing to me.

The theater closest to us playing the film was a 15/20 minute drive. A lot of things in Calgary are a 15/20 minute drive. In this case, it was Chinook Centre. Chinook is like the god of all malls here in Calgary--and people really seem to love (to hate) their malls here. It reminds me of Minnesota in that way, where going to the mall was such a big deal. I hate malls now. When I walk in, I feel like I've entered an alternate universe, where I'm drugged into wanting things (everything) and thinking my ass will look like this in panties when I walk by Victoria's Secret:
I also saw these at several shoe stores:


Is a high heeled rain boot something that makes sense to everyone but me? I don't wear high heels, but in general I respect women who do--they look freakin' amazing when done right. But when it's wet and potentially slippery outside, don't you want your feet on the ground? This reminds me of seeing girls in skirts that barely cover their asses when it's 40 degrees outside. Ok, sisters, it's not freezing out there, but it's not that warm. Sometimes practicality should trump style! (And to be honest, no matter what the weather, I don't want to see nearly-see your hoo-hoo ladies. You all give my husband a complex about having daughters.)

So, Wanderlust. I unabashedly loved this film, but I don't think everyone will. First off, Husband and I snuck in beers. We debated whether to get just two beers or four (total,) and we settled on three, but for those of you planning to do this, just go with two per person--it's Friday night and a movie is two hours. Don't feel guilty about wanting two beers! (why did we? no idea.) We also brought a tube of Ketchup flavored Pringles. I've only recently re-discovered Pringles and it is still true that once you Pop, you can't stop. Boy are they good. Point is: our refreshments were first rate.

In the first 15 minutes of the film, George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) buy an apartment they can't afford in the West Village, lose all of their job prospects, and decide they have to move Atlanta, where George's brother has a job for him.

The two pack their car to the gills and head south. The drive might have been my favorite part of the film. Maybe because Husband and I just went through this (lost jobs, financial struggles, leaving a city we loved, moving across country for new prospects). The couple waffles between singing joyfully along to songs they love, to screaming "We're so fucked!" at their separate moments, to blaming each other, to long silences just gazing out at the road in front of them. I was howling laughing, (think most of the theater might have been like, 'who is that girl?') I honestly felt like I was watching my own loving-but-imperfect relationship in action.

Exhausted, they pull into what their iPhone tells them is Elysium Bed and Breakfast, and, along the long, dark driveway, a naked man stumbles out of the bushes. They completely freak out, assume he's going to kill them, and end up flipping their car. But Elysium has a beautiful room for them and the drift off peacefully. That is until Linda is awakened by mysterious guttural noises coming from downstairs and finds George missing. She creeps downstairs and finds him partaking in a didgeridoo jam session, stoned. The whole place has transformed into a swinging party and they have the best night they've had in a good long while.

I think that's what I loved about this movie: the sheer ridiculous hilarity of the situations. You have to be willing to accept them, and laugh at them if you're going to like this movie. Like when a horse saunters into George and Linda's bedroom. Or when a couple of the hippies want to have a serious conversation with George while he's trying to poop. Nudists crushing wine. Or George's outrageous pep talk in the mirror about all the things he's going to do with his penis when he's getting ready to practice "free love." An Ayahuasca -enhanced truth circle. George mistaking a woman's onset of labor as a come on...only to see the woman give birth right in front of him.

I love over-the-top the hippies all are too. How upset one gets when George kills a fly. The placenta carried around in a bowl still attached the newborn baby. When one of the hippies gives George and Linda this gift:



They ask her what it is and she shrugs. "It's orange peels tied to twigs." (It's stupid you guys, but funny!)

I loved Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd in this film. Aniston looks great in the jean shorts she wears everywhere, and great in general. (I say this as a straight married woman, of course.) She's sweet and searching, and I can relate to that. And Rudd's George is just so cute as he tried hard to take this all in stride.

Ok, this is not the deepest movie, and yes, like with every romantic comedy, the ending is too simple and happy than real life would ever be. BUT, I appreciate some of what is here:

• the perspective a new place can give you on your life. How things that seemed so incredibly important in one context, suddenly fade to background in a new setting (like expensive lattes)
• of thinking, really thinking, about what makes you happy in life
  
• re-appreciating someone you've loved for a very long time
• and of course, embracing the spirit of throwing caution to the wind and embracing the unusual, unexpected adventure. It's always those unexpected adventures that have been the best in my short life. Don't we all have some version of this fantasy? Picking up, moving, going somewhere strange, maybe even crazy, and just seeing... what happens?
  

I do.