If you’ve ever had the good fortune of finding the love of your life and eventually making that big decision to get married, you have likely experienced the stress of having to “meet the parents.” It is an event so rich with possibility that it’s has been showcased over and over again in film, television, and literature. We’ve all seen Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Father of the Bride, and Meet the Parents. Most recently, there was Netflix’s own You People. Now, thanks to Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, yet another version has emerged in the form of The Out-Laws.
This one follows in the same vein as The In-Laws and Mickey Blue Eyes and essentially tells the story of Owen Browning (Adam DeVine) who, after years of not meeting his fiancés parents (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin), finally gets the pleasure of their presence before the big day. His fiancé’s parents, however, hide a massive secret. It appears that his future in-laws are the infamous pair of criminals known as the “Ghost Bandits.”
On the face of it, that sounds like the basis for a fun, action packed comedy. But unlike some of Hollywood’s previous efforts, The Out-Laws lack some very important elements. Namely charm and heart. Without which, the story is nothing more than a mindless (occasionally fun) comedy that you will immediately forget as soon as the credits roll.
Haven’t We Already Seen This One Before?
Let’s be honest. The words Happy Madison Productions doesn’t really inspire confidence. While they had a few charming hits in the early 2000s, their recent output hasn’t exactly been what you would consider quality comedy or cinema. God knows no one wants to rewatch Hubie Halloween or The Wrong Missy any time soon. And The Out-Laws, with its tired formula of high school jokes and over the top slapstick comedy, feels lazy and uninspired.
The script is a mixed bag of vagueness and ineptitude that occasionally stumbles upon a few good laughs. (Monkeys and typewriters and all that.) But this is a movie that seems to live and die by its cast.
Let me get the good out of the way first. Even if a script is bad, putting the wonder that is Pierce Brosnan in your film is enough to make anyone sit through it, and that’s exactly what The Out-Laws gets right. Despite the standard Happy Madison template, it was Brosnan’s hard edged, yet undeniably charming, father-in-law that was the one thing that kept me from tuning out. There is such an effortless wit to his performance that you all but forgive everything else that’s on screen. Add to that Michael Rooker as a police chief in relentless pursuit and what you should have is a really fun cat and mouse chase. (Heck, just give me a movie with the two of them running circles around each other.)
The rest of the supporting cast, along with Ellen Barkin and Nina Dobrev, bring such a grounded comedic performance, that anything over the top becomes incredibly jarring. Which is unfortunately where lead actor Adam DeVine falls in almost every scene.
What Was This Movie Called Again?
Now don’t get me wrong. I never want to put the blame of a film’s failure on one actor alone. Because at the end of the day, an actor’s performance is moulded by the script they are given and the director they are in the hands of. Adam DeVine, however, for better and for worse, has a fairly distinct comedy style that can be seen across all of his films. Sometimes it works. But when you have a supporting cast giving one type of performance, his own becomes so accentuated that it ends up feeling a tad bit moronic after a while.
Watching The Out-Laws, you can’t help but wonder how one man could be this clueless and idiotic. In a story like this, your protagonist has to be charming and have a certain amount of heart. He is, after all, the person you are meant to sympathize with. Just think Mickey Blue Eyes. It has a similar premise in which a future son-in-law has to work together with his criminal father-in-law. The difference there being that Hugh Grant brought an immense charm which played off well against the straight forward James Cann. None of DeVine’s decisions here channel any of that same nuance. Most of it just feels puerile and pointless.
Maybe Just Rewatch Mickey Blue Eyes or Meet the Parents
The Out-Laws does just enough to have running in the background while you do your chores on a Monday night. Brosnan and Barkin deliver a fun comedic performance as the in-laws and that is the only thing that will keep you from switching this off after 15 minutes.
Will this be a film you’d watch again? Probably not. The charm and charisma of Pierce Brosnan may hold your attention the first time, but there’s no way you’ll sit through this for a second. Unless of course you’re really into movies that are utterly senseless and only mildly entertaining.
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