Good God. Talk about dysfunctional family!
Imogene appears to be doing alright in life – good job. Own place. Good circle of friends. Gorgeous boyfriend. That is until she is fired from her job. Evicted from her apartment. Her friends turn against her. Oh, and her boyfriend dumps her.
Who said ‘you can’t have it all’?
Imogen is distraught, and on the verge of a breakdown. So what’s a girl to do?.. stage a suicide attempt of course. All in the hopes of winning back her ex, the fake suicide backfires and she ends up in a hospital bed without a man in sight. But things are about to get that little bit worse – because Imogen’s mother is on her way to collect her. Knowing just how insufferable the woman is, Imogen leaps from her bed and sprints down the hospital corridor, her nightgown flapping wildly. With no successful outcome, she is restrained by doctors and injected immediately. As the world blurs into darkness, a flame-haired old woman stands over Imogen with a hesitant expression on her face.
“..Imogen honey, your pants are showing”
I was hesitant about this one. I really was. Because in the past, the movies I’ve watched starring Kristen Wiig have been nothing more than tacky. However, Girl Most Likely delivered plenty of ‘LOL’ moments – its a glorious feeling to genuinely laugh out loud, and I enjoyed doing so. The script (albeit slightly boring) gave us quite a few “what the..fuck?”-type reactions at some of the characters actions, and a few great farcical moments.
Imogen retreats home, to stay with her family. When she arrives at her mother’s house she is confronted by mother’s undercover assassin boyfriend ‘George Bousche’, her rather special brother Ralph, and ‘the strange boy who is sleeping in her bed’ Lee (turns out her mother rented her room out) – the ‘family’ couldn’t be any further from normal; hunky Lee is something of a sex fiend, ‘George’ appears to be addicted to spanking (that mother Zelda rather enjoys), and Ralph is clearly a sandwich short of a buffet spread, but displays nothing but adorable antics.
As the movie continues, we witness Imogen as she experiences a journey of family love and self-improvement. She seems to hang around in nighties, shorts & t-shirts and other borrowed ‘lounge-around’ clothes due to her lack of possessions, which must be harrowing for the poor lass, but nonetheless she begins to rebuild her relationship with Zelda and her siblings.
The opening scene of this movie is quite relevant; where Imogen stands, dressed to kill, looking in a mirror whilst doing her makeup. After she applies her lipstick, she smiles contently to herself.. the smile drops instantly and becomes a frown. This is a woman who looks fantastic, but feels the complete opposite within herself. Imogen moving back to her mother’s house is literally a step back, to step forward. She must come to accept her family for who they are, as well as her roots, before rebuilding her life. It’s that classic drop of life wisdom most of us have experienced; accepting what we have for what it is, before truly moving forward and being happy.
Kristen Wiig; a fantastic comedienne. Her comic timing is brilliant, and she provides a dry, almost surreal atmosphere whenever she’s on screen. ..so WHY does she never quite gel? She was OK in Bridesmaids, yet Friends With Kids was just hideous. As if the director put the right actress in the wrong film. And now this. Girl Most Likely was good but the script was just not funny enough; thus throwing Wiig (yet again) into the back of the comedy cupboard.
I just don’t understand what is happening with her roles. I’d bloody love to see this actress mixed with some proper funny actors and be handed a script which would sell her career. But its just not happening. Its as if the talent is there, its just not being used or is being used in the wrong features. I would literally sum Kristen Wiig up as ‘wasted’ – like having a fantastic A-List Hollywood actor being cast as a tree in a Nativity play.
Jesus, this scene made me roar with laughter. Imogen visits her local library to track down a book – she locates it, and then approaches the exit just as she realises she doesn’t have a library card. The librarian behind the counter looks up at her, and Imogen very carefully (even though being watched) slowly puts the book up her t-shirt. This part of the movie was fucking hilarious. A truly comedic moment where one character blatantly says to the other “hello. I’m just going to steal this book” – brilliant.
Overall, Girl Most Likely is watchable but contains no ‘wow factor’. It is pretty damn boring if I’m honest – this is what makes my rating decision difficult, because its more or less utter shite, yet gave us some glorious ‘LOL’ moments.
Strong word of advice – do not pay to see this movie. Wait for the rental.
..and even then, leave it running whilst you’re doing your nails, or playing Angry Birds on your phone or something. It literally is only worth looking up when a funny line is spoken.