The title mostly says it all. This movie is about Jason Sudekis trying to get all his friends together to perform, you guessed it, a good old fashioned orgy. It’s got some sporadically funny parts, but mostly this is a somewhat good film to watch in about a year when it’s on HBO (or, more likely, Showtime) one night.
What Works: The cameos are good (it’s always a pleasure to see Don Johnson, David Koechner, and Lucy Punch) and I actually like most of them better than the main cast, who are no slouches. I also give the movie bold points for staging an entire movie around an orgy that takes place…and all of the participants are very old friends to boot. The mere fact the movie manages to be kind-of funny instead of making my skin crawl is a truly impressive feat.
What Doesn’t Work: Tyler Sabine as the requisite fat slob sidekick made me groan way more than laugh (haven’t Seth Rogen/Jonah Hill/Josh Gad and the other dozen fat slob sidekicks sewn up these roles yet?) and the same goes for Martin Starr playing the orgy’s bitter wet blanket. Also, the movie has a pretty slack rhythm for something no longer than 95 minutes. It felt longer than that by a half hour and that’s not such a good thing for a comedy.
What I Would Have Done Differently: The vast majority of the movie takes place setting up the orgy–there’s a countdown clock that keeps saying “Six weeks til…” “Four weeks til…”–and it just feels like too much buildup without enough payoff. The whole enterprise feels too loosely structured and that does fit with the movie’s “Friends hanging out vibe” but I can’t say it’s the most fun thing to watch.