Relatable Raven Reviews

What’s it about?

Joel, a sad sack who owns a flavor extract plant, tries to trick his wife into cheating so he won’t feel bad for banging the hot new hire.

Anyone I know in it?

This cast is actually pretty stacked for a movie I’ve never heard of.

Jason Bateman – He’s that snarky cool guy in everything like Horrible Bosses, Zootopia, Juno and, of course, Arrested Development.

Mila Kunis – She’s the funny hot chick in everything like That 70’s Show, Black Swan and the Bad Mom movies.

Ben Affleck – They somehow got BATMAN to play some druggie bartender in a shitty wig?? Like he’s not even really a main character or anything. Fucking bizarre.

J.K. Simmons – Mr. J. Jonah Jameson himself! If you’re not a Spider-Man fan, you’d know him as the mean teacher in Whiplash, the voice of Omni-Man in Invincible or the guy from the Farmer’s Insurance commercials.

Kristin Wiig – She’s one of the GOAT’s of SNL who’s had a pretty solid career after leaving. Most notably she’s the main chick from Bridesmaids.

T.J. Miller – Before he ruined his career by yelling about bombs in an airport, he was Deadpool’s best friend and the only fun character in Silicon Valley.

So, is it any good?

I wasn’t expecting much out of this one. I only watched it because I randomly saw it on Hulu and will watch pretty much anything with Jason Bateman in it. Honestly, it’s not terrible actually. You have to keep in mind that this came out in 2009 so it’s pretty dated. I mean, the whole plot of trying to trick your wife into banging someone just so you don’t have to feel bad having an affair yourself would never fly in this day and age. The worst part about this movie is how it absolutely squanders its female characters, though. Kristin Wiig is just Wife. They cast one of the funniest women in the world in a role that could’ve been filled by a cardboard cutout. They gave Mila Kunis a fun role at least. She’s a con artist who seduces a former employee of the plant and tries to get him to sue so she can get her hands on some of the settlement money. They don’t really go into her story much though so she’s mostly just Hot Girl. They wasted so much time on following Joel around as he mopes around feeling sorry for himself that could’ve been spent on some fun criminal fuckery. Like there’s a whole bit where Joel actually ends up at her actual boyfriend’s house while super high and later we see that she’s living out of a motel and they just never get into it? Like what the fuck happened??? I need answers!! There are still some fun bits, though. I loved getting to see the guy who plays the adorable Ted in Schitt’s Creek play a braindead gigolo, and T.J. Miller doesn’t get a lot of screen time but absolute steals the show as a dumb, punk rock, hardcore, goth kid. All in all, it was an ok movie for a random weekday night that you can watch while doom scrolling on your phone, which is how everyone watches stuff nowadays, anyway.

Anything else like it?

If you want another underrated Jason Bateman gem, check out Bad Words. If you’re in the mood for another 2000’s workplace comedy with a way too stacked cast, go for Employee of the Month. Or if you want a REALLY good workplace comedy, Office Space is there for ya.