A terrible movie that made us laugh, this is the story of parents who, because they didn't save for their daughter's college tuition, partner up with their gambling-obsessed friend to establish a casino in their neighborhood because, as they say, the house always wins.
We were in the mood for some mindless humor and this delivers on both counts. Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler (last blogged for Anchorman 3: The Legend Continues and Sisters, respectively) are the parents and Jason Mantzoukas (four episodes of Parks and Recreation, eight of Enlightened, Adrian Pimento in seven episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Dr. Steve in four of Transparent) is their friend and all three characters are way less mature than the college-bound teen.
The is the feature directing debut of Andrew Jay Cohen, who co-wrote the script with Brendan O'Brien (they wrote Neighbors and co-wrote the sequel and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates but we saw none of them). Some of the supporting cast are Lennon Parham (I liked the series Accidentally on Purpose, Best Friends Forever, and Playing House, and she had six episodes of Veep), Andrea Savage (Helen Basch in thirteen episodes of Episodes, Laura Montez in seven of Veep), Nick Kroll (writes and acts comedy and played it straight in Loving), Alison Tolman (a star of the second season of Fargo), and Rob Huebel (son-in-law Len Novak in 18 episodes of Transparent, more). Some of the story wouldn't be missed if cut but I did enjoy Ferrell's character's crippling math anxiety.
Twenty songs are listed, including Chris Isaak's Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing and the theme from The Sopranos Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3, and can all be played by clicking the Youtube buttons on this link.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics average 18 and its audiences' come in at 43%. Like I said, terrible. But pretty funny all the same.
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