MOVIE REVIEW: “They Came Together” stars Paul Rudd (Ant-Man, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Amy Poehler (Inside Out [2015], Parks and Recreation [TV series]), Bill Hader (It Chapter Two, The Skeleton Twins), Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids, The Lego Batman Movie), Cobie Smulders (The Avengers [2012], Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), Teyonah Parris (Dear White People, Chi-Raq), Jason Mantzoukas (The Dictator, The House), Christopher Meloni (Man of Steel, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [TV series]), Michael Ian Black (Wet Hot American Summer, Stella [TV series]), and Ed Helms (The Hangover, The Office [TV series]). It is directed by David Wain (Role Models, Wanderlust), who wrote the screenplay with Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer, Search Party [TV series]).

A couple recounts how they met and fell in love through zany, silly storytelling that captures the tropes of romantic comedies.

I don’t know how to explain this… but “They Came Together” has to be one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long while. And it’s possibly one of the most idiotic I have seen as well.

Months ago, I was channel surfing and stumbled upon a random film that featured Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, and Ellie Kemper sitting at a dinner table. I was intrigued, and even laughed in the few minutes I stayed on the channel. Recently, I found it again swiping through HBO Max and followed up on the story. I gotta tell y’all… this thing is bonkers. It’s a parody on the romantic comedy, while at the same time inhabiting its own space. With insane situations, character quirks, and a slew of star talent, I couldn’t help but be amazed at this movie that seemed to fly over everyone’s radar back in 2014.

From start to finish, we’re given the story of how to people met, fell in love, fell apart, and got back together again. It’s your typical romance, but the comedy is played up to the extreme. It’s borderline horrendous screenwriting, though what helps it is the poking fun at the genre. The writers steal from all of the classics, from “When Harry Met Sally…” to “You’ve Got Mail” (primarily in their dialogue). A lot of characters are caricatures in service of the zany jokes and comedy set-ups that are put in place. Really, this is a film for the comedy fans; and even more so, for the Mel Brooks fans.

If you enjoy outrageous humor, you’ll love this. I had to suppress a lot of my laughter because I was watching this on a car ride, but if I didn’t have to, I’d be laughing until I was red in the face. There was no limit to how far these filmmakers would go in playing up the humor, and the actors that filled the screened leaned into it so well. The cameos killed me, and the matter-of-fact dialogue couldn’t help but make me shake my head (in the best of ways). There’s one scene in particular where characters repeat the same two lines about five times, all because one of them said “you could say that again.” I was in stitches.

Of course, when it comes to movies like this, I would have to be in a certain mood. Or I guess, of a certain tolerance. It’s so ludicrous that you have to be willing to shut off your mind while watching it, and I will say that some of the jokes were a bit cheap. Either that, or not necessary (the sex scene toward the third act was so disturbing). After a while, I did begin to lose steam as there is only so much insanity that I could take.

All in all, “They Came Together” is wickedly hilarious. Sure, it can run out of steam in a few moments and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I had a blast. It’s the right pick-me-up when you’re down, and has some of the greats in comedy currently playing a part. If you’re looking for fun, check it out. FINAL SCORE: 87%= Juicy Popcorn

Here is the trailer: