FOR A GOOD TIME CALL (2012)

[ulthar]

A refreshing comedy.

Why 'refreshing"?  Self deprecating without being mean, crass or low brow.  Yes, it has a 'sexual theme,' but that's just the plot's driver, not the plot itself.  The sexual context sets up the punchline.

The premise of the movie is that two women, roommates, start a phone sex business to make ends meet.  The movie explores their building friendship as move from not standing each other (due to a bad incident in college, revealed to the viewer in flashback) to a relationship "like sisters."

Though there were a few laugh out loud bits along the way, what really made this movie work for me...in general as well as a comedy, is the pay-off in the very last scene...the last 5 minutes or so make the movie.  It's like a giant pun crossed with double entendre and for me it worked COMPLETELY.

The entire movie up to the final moments are the set-up...we watched an 86 minute joke, and it was funny.

We watched the R version and I'm left wondering what is different in the Unrated version.  I cannot imagine it diminishing (or really adding to) that final pay-off.

It's a cute movie; not deep, not a thinker.  You won't leave this one feeling like you've really learned anything or gained valuable insight into the psyches of these two women.  But it is fun to watch their respective arcs play out in Acts 2 and 3 and into the final punchline.

10,000 x better than the likes of AMERICAN PIE for humor on a "human" level....I give this one 3.75 out of 5.  Solid writing most of the way through (a little contrived drama is forgivable), non-Hollywood  RomCom formula (though it looked tempted down that path a couple of times) and well....I say it again...the ending punchline gets it pretty close to a 4 for me.