Review of Drinking Buddies (2013) by Joel M — 11 Jan 2014

Writer-Director Joe Swanberg might have had a few too many when he was mixing up the horrific "Drinking Buddies". Joe better get his directorial spirits up for his next movie or else it will be Swanberg's swan song in the film industry. "Drinking Buddies" stars Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson as Kate & Luke. They are good "drinking buddies" (but of course) who are also colleagues at a Chicago brewery. Luke's girlfriend is Jill who wants to marry Luke in the future. Jill is played by Anna Kendrick. Kate's beau is the mild-mannered Chris, played by Ron Livingston. When the foursome travel to Chris' country cottage, things change a bit. I wish Swanberg would have changed more than a bit about this wandering movie. The movie had no intriguing features and its lackluster scenes made me want to barf like a bad hangover. Swanberg made it no secret that Kate & Luke internally desire to have "sex on the beach" one day; but one could care less if these two "drinking buddies" hooked up, thanks to Swanberg's "less filling" screenplay. In fact, midway through the movie, I wanted to close my "Drinking Buddies" tab right away by closing this one down. I hate to be a straight shooter to these actors, but this was the worst performances of the careers of Johnson, Wilde, Livingston, and the quite-talented Kendrick. "Drinking Buddies" is worth a look, only if it's your "last call" on movies available to see.

** Needs Improvement.