Review of The D Train (2015) by Kevin D — 11 Jun 2015

NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS.

In the hands of Judd Apatow - instead of first-timers Mogel & Paul - this could have gone insanely off the rails - in a good way. The sexual exploits of the 40-year-old demo who populate and gravitate to Apatow's work could have reached the comedic and dramatic heights needed to sell this material to a wider audience. Instead this indie effort feels undercooked.

Jack Black's Dan Landsman travels to LA to get Oliver Lawless (Marsden) to attend the reunion over which he holds an iron fist of organization. Lawless is the key to success for Landsman as he hopes this minor celebrity will be the draw the event needs. And it all goes to plan except for one unexpected turn: the drunken pair hook up! Dan then is left pondering how and why that happened while Oliver treats as it as just one more in his never-ending string of bi-curious conquests. From there, things get more and more uncomfortable as Oliver decides he is definitely coming to the reunion, and Dan increasingly thinks that's not such a good idea.

The problem is none of this is all that funny, some of it is too sad and mean-spirited, and the final confrontation is far too histrionic to be believable. While Marsden totally sells the idea that this guy is so magnetic he can turn anyone for a night, we never get to understand why that is from anyone's perspective - or his own. Black has several scenes where he gets to wear his emotions on his sleeve but they seem truncated and don't allow him to get at the heart of Dan's confusion.

The premise of this "comedy" had so much promise that I can't help but feel rather disappointed in the result. While Jack Black and James Marsden are more than satisfying in their roles and the supporting cast is strong, the actors can't elevate this B-level attempt at an Apatow-esque comedy of human errors.