Review of Walk of Shame (2014) by Patrick L — 18 Oct 2014

"Steven Brill's "Walk of Shame" is a tone-deaf farce featuring an embarrassing performance from Elizabeth Banks".

DVD Movie Review: Walk of Shame.

Date Viewed: June 29 2014.

Written and Directed By Steven Brill (Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, Drillbit Taylor and Without a Paddle).

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Wright, Ethan Suplee,.

Bill Burr, Kevin Nealon, Oliver Hudson, Willie Garson, P.J. Byrne, Vic Chao, Ken Davitian,.

Larry Gilliard, Jr., Alphonso McAuley and Niecy Nash.

Elizabeth Banks and writer/director Steven Brill took the walk of shame when they agreed to direct some sketches for the awful R-rated ensemble comedy "Movie 43". I named it the worst movie of 2013, it was so bad, Richard Roeper said it was the "Citizen Kane" of awful. Now Banks and Brill have taken the walk of shame again, this time they made a tone-deaf farce called "Walk of Shame". Banks gives it her all here, but it's an embarrassing performance.

In "Walk of Shame", Banks plays Meghan Miles, a news reporter who dreams of becoming a network news anchorman but she is having a bad day. She just got dumped by her boyfriend Kyle (Oliver Hudson) and the anchorman position has been given to somebody else. In order to cheer her up, Meghan's best friends Denise (Sarah Wright) and Rose (Gillian Jacobs) go to a nightclub so that they can get drunk and get laid. After having a one-night stand with a charming bartender named Gordon (James Marsden), Meghan gets a call from the network saying "You got the position". Apparently, the original anchorman couldn't make it on time so Meghan finally gets the position she has been dreaming about.

Meghan has to be there in 8 hours but she has lost her wallet, ID and cell phone. She's stranded in downtown Los Angeles and all she has on is that tight yellow dress. Throughout "Walk of Shame", she encounters prostitutes, drug dealers, cops, a rabbi, and even a 10-year-old kid who says, "You can have my bike but only if you show me your boobs". That's right people, she gets dragged into one embarrassing situation after another. Also, people think that she's either a hooker, a crack dealer, a cop or an undercover hooker. Meanwhile, Denise, Rose and Gordon desperately try to find her while Meghan is trying to find her car. If you're a local reporter in Los Angeles and if you're getting the big anchorman gig, how come you can't find your way back to the news station.

"Walk of Shame" wants to be a more comedic take on Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" but just like Rob Ford trying to throw a football on the field, it just falls flat. Steven Brill who was responsible for making "Drillbit Taylor", "Heavyweights", "Little Nicky", "Mr. Deeds" and "Without a Paddle" has no comedic timing and he heavily relies on stereotypes. "Walk of Shame" is an unfunny mess but what can I say, at least it's better than "Movie 43".

Elizabeth Banks (who recently did a great job voicing Wyldstyle in "The LEGO Movie") can be an appealing and funny actress but I'm afraid she and that yellow dress are stranded in a movie that shamelessly tries to humiliate her everywhere she goes. Banks and Brill have walked into a spot on my Worst Movies of the Year list.