Review of Spring Breakdown (2009) by Geoff J — 11 May 2010

Gayle O'Brien (Amy Poehler), Becky St. Germaine (Parker Posey), and Judi Joskow (Rachel Dratch) were losers in college. Savouring the idea that one day they would be the well off ones with hot husbands that the cool kids wish they could be, instead they find themselves in their 30's and still losers. When Becky gets a job from her boss Senator Hartmann (Jane Lynch) to secretly watch her daughter Ashley (Amber Tamblyn) while she's at Spring Break, Gayle and Judi tag along.

In the early 21st century, we saw the rise of what became known as the new Frat Pack. This was a group of guys who made comedies together and featured Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, and Vince Vaughn as the prominent members. Spring Breakdown seems like a jumping off point for a sort of female version of that former Frat Pack. As it would seem only natural that Tina Fey was intended to play the part of Becky St. Germaine, they pulled something similar to what Adam Sandler has done with his cronies with Kevin James taking the place of Chris Farley, here they replaced Fey with Parker Posey. So how does the female iteration of the Frat Pack fare?

Not very well. Spring Breakdown seems partly like an homage to Revenge of the Nerds part 2, and for those of us who like Revenge of the Nerds, we know that the second movie isn't the one that you really want to pay homage too. The writing doesn't do much to flesh out the characters in any way that would make people feel for them any more than people would feel from the many caricatures you can find in an SNL skit. While the jokes might have looked good on paper, they would have been better served in a skit, rather than in a full length movie they can't sustain.

The acting is serviceable, particularly from the always good Parker Posey, but the writing doesn't give any of the actresses much to lean on. Amy Poehler's character is nothing more than a walking amalgam of her many SNL characters lumped into one character. Rachel Dratch, a comedienne best known for Debbie Downer on SNL, is an actress best suited to skits and guest stints on TV shows. Even some of the smaller characters, such as Seth Meyers closeted William and Missi Pyle's Charlene, can wear on the nerves in there brief appearances in the film.

There are some laugh out loud moments in the film, but more often you're laughing at the people in the movie for appearing in this mess. I can't recommend this movie, which to me is sad because I always enjoy Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, and Jane Lynch typically in anything they're appearing in. Unfortunately, this film is a fairly big miss.