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The institution of marriage gets a kicking around in Lake Bell’s ensemble comedy. A documentarian (Dolly Wells) has decided marriage should be a seven-year contract only (with an option to renew), and she hits a Florida town looking for unhappy couples to take part in her project. She finds: Alice (Bell) and Noah (Ed Helms), financially stressed; Harvey (Paul Reiser) and Cybil (Mary Steenbergen), bored and bitter; and Fanny (Amber Heard) and Zander (Wyatt Cenac), reputedly polyamorous free spirits. It’s a good cast, and there are a few bits that generate a laugh or two, but the overall concept seems as dusty as a 1950s sitcom. Ideally, this should have been a dark comedy, unafraid to buck convention, but it’s no surprise that the film winds up back at the altar … where the “trouble” all started.
This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 5, 2017.
