I've never reviewed a movie here before, but I'm doing it because most of what I've seen online and in my local paper were at best tepid, if not downright negative. Frankly, it is a much better comedy of manners than "Bridesmaids" was-- that one relied far too heavily on the Judd Apatow gross-out factor. (As if proving that women could be as stupid as men is some kind of feminist triumph.) Wiig's skill-- and the terrific Annette Bening's, as well-- is to tread the fine line between comic sketch exaggeration and the rueful comedy in the human condition. One of the better comedies I've seen in awhile, and deserves spreading the good word.
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kategowen20 July 2013
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stevendbeard22 July 2013I saw "Girl Most Likely", starring Kristen Wiig-SNL-t.v., Bridesmaids; Annette Bening-Open Range, Mars Attacks!; Matt Dillon-Old Dogs, Wild Things and Darren Criss-Glee-t.v., A Very Potter Musical.
This is a low budget independent comedy that has a quirky tone to it. Kristen is a 30 year old failed playwright that is living in New York. She looses her fiancé' and her job, all in the same day, which leads to a little breakdown and she ends up staying with her mother, Annette, in New Jersey. Her mother has a gambling addiction, as well as a new, younger boyfriend, Matt. Kristen lost her father at an early age, or so she thought, until she finds out that he may still be alive. Oh, and Matt claims to be a C.I.A. operative that goes by the name of George Boosch-he can't tell them his real name because... well, he is a top secret operative for the C.I.A. Darren plays a young wanabe singer-he sings in a Backstreet Boys tribute band-living in her old bedroom that her mother rented out. Kristen's 29 year old little brother-still living at home with Annette-raises and sells crabs, and even made his own crustacean shell to wear, for protection-protection from what? I don't know. Anyway, as you can see, it is the very definition of a dysfunctional family. It's rated "PG-13" for sexual content-no nudity-and language and has a running time of 1 hour & 43 minutes. It is not a laugh-out-loud comedy but it was interesting enough that I would probably buy it on DVD. -
"Girl Most Likely" is Imogene (Kristen Wiig); a girl once likely to become the next big playwright in New York City, now she's desperately hanging on to the upper-class lifestyle convinced that it's all about who you know, where you live, and who you are with. A failed attempt of a fake suicide attempt sends Imogene back where she came from. All the way to New Jersey.
It's an indie film with a fairly minimal distribution, which generally means the film is going to try to survive on quirky comedy. Luckily, Wiig has had a decade's worth of experience doing quirky comedy on "Saturday Night Live". Also, luckily the film is more than just a quirky indie comedy. It's very much a character study, and a bit of a quarter- life crisis dramedy thrown in for good measure. Imogene doesn't know herself very well. She once knew she was a good writer, now she just thinks she's a good writer. She once knew she was better than the family she came from, now she just thinks she's better. She also thinks her life will be better if she gets to know her great and successful father whom she doesn't know.
Her home life features comedy from her weird and bizarre mother, Zelda, her weirder and more bizarre new-step-father-like figure, George, and her weird but well-intentioned younger brother, Ralph. There's also a strange man sleeping in her bed.
This strange man is Lee (Darren Criss), who is actually not strange at all. He is a young man mired in a quarter-life crisis who has rented out her room as a place to stay. He represents the romantic angle of Imogene's attempt to get her life back on track, and was actually a very welcome addition to the movie. Lee was much more sane, understanding, and more aware of his place in life than any of the characters. He was exactly the type of guy who could keep Imogene more grounded with her distorted life views.
The comedy is sweet, although at times it can become to quirky to be all that funny. The writing is good, even though at times it can be a little too self-aware to be all the great. But "Girl Most Likely" is a fairly enjoyable journey of a girl who has completely lost her way in life. It focuses on family, ambition and ties it all up with quirky comedy. -
guchrisc1 October 2013The myth of Thanksgiving, the American-dream dissected, shattered, and taken apart, or is it?
This film is set in two cities. One city is New York City. The other is Ocean City in New Jersey, on the opposite side of the Hudson River.
Lead actress Kristen Wiig plays Imogene. A difficult role to play, because Imogene is not really very nice at all. She is a New York-socialite and is arrogant, demanding, and generally unpleasant. Film opens with her in NY with her rich boyfriend, flat and job.
This self-centred woman has a massive change in circumstances which end up forcing her to return to her family in Ocean City. Thus film opens like 'Hope Floats' (1998). Like Sandra Bullock in that film, Imogene has to return home, having not fulfilled her expectations.
Now socialite Imogene has left glamorous NY and returns to a more working-class Ocean City, and her working-class family. Annette Bening, of 'Ruby Sparks' (2012), plays her mother. An unrecognizable Matt Dillon plays a boyfriend. However, the real stand out performance, is by Christopher Fitzgerald, who plays brother Ralph.
The problems and the disputes in the family are shown realistically, as are the interactions between the members of the family. The scenes between brother and sister capture the relationship perfectly. The pair have grown up together, two kids, brother and sister, still always kids with each other.
The contrast between the two cities of NY, and Ocean City, is shown well. In this, film is similar to 'Working Girl' (1988), 'Silver Linings Playbook' (2012) or 'The Heat' (2013). Nathan Corddry of 'Harry's Law', like in 'The Heat', here too makes a brief appearance. Class-differences and family-differences are portrayed well.
The Theo Paphitis autobiography has a jaw-dropping page one. This film has a similar jaw-dropping twist. There is also a funny twist reminiscent of 'Ruthless People' (1986).
This is a funny film about the family and the American-dream. Rated 12A in the UK, this film is about the family, but is not a film for the whole family. Two people are seen in bed, not sleeping, and thus 12+ would be a good age guide.
While 'Working Girl' portrayed a rise, this film is more about a fall, and a return home. However some great music, book-ends this film, rather like the 'WG' film.
Film contains comedy, drama and some romance. 9/10. -
Imogene is having a bad day: out of place among the New York social climbers she hangs out with, dumped by her boy friend and losing her job, a phony suicide attempt sees her released into the "care" of her quirky and flawed mother, and reduced to sleeping on the floor at Mom's house in Jersey. Finding herself on a quest with her very strange brother to search out the father she had always been told was dead, she may actually be on the road to reclaiming her life.
Billed as a comedy, but actually a small-scale domestic drama leavened with humour, this odd little indie stars Kristen Wiig as the (initially) hapless Imogene. Ms Wiig impresses me more with every movie I see her in - her attractive but worn everywoman persona hides an impressive talent. Annette Bening is also good as the Mom who isn't as bad as reports would have you believe. There seems to be a school of opinion which likes Christopher Fitzgerald as quirky Ralph: I found the character to unbelievable to warm to, and Fitgerald in the role struck me as Zack Galifianikis-lite.
The film overall is wildly implausible in almost every respect: it is a tribute to Wiig that she (almost) has you believing it, and certainly has you rooting for her character despite the loser-ish qualities she displays at the start.
I quite enjoyed this - it has a feelgood element to it which pleased me. -
MediaPanther18 July 2013Girl Most Likely is full of potential and just like it's heroin, a lot is expected from it. It's a great set up with an amazing cast but where it has all those strengths- it's weaknesses are equal if not stronger.
The film follows Imogene (Kristen Wiig), an unlikable whining 30 year old woman- child. Once a successful up and coming playwright, Imogene is in a major slump. After a fake suicide attempt she is released by the hospital into the hands of her gambling addicted mother (Annette Bening). Imogene is taken against her will from the comforts of New York to where she grew up, a New Jersey boardwalk town, that she hates with a passion. There she finds her mother is dating a younger man who may or may not be a CIA agent (Matt Dillon) and meets an even younger man (Darren Criss) who is renting out her childhood bedroom. When Imogene and her younger brother Ralph (Christopher Fitzgerald) find out their long deceased father is actually alive and well, Imogene makes it her goal to find and reunite with him.
From the get go Girl Most Likely tries to instill in your brain what it is like to be Imogene by some shabby point of view camera work. In fact most of the visual appeal of the film really just rests on the expressive and handsome shoulders of young up and comer Darren Criss who, as the sexy happy go- lucky Lee, represents what Imogene should aspire to be but fails to become.
Wiig, who is known for her eccentric and outrageous characters (Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids) plays the straight man to Imogene's kooky family. She does not do well as the straight man in this film. Imogene is grumpy, selfish and irrational. She uses her own self sabotaged failure as an excuse to be awful to her family and friends.
Dillon and Bening (The Kids Are All Right) do their best caricatures of their characters, but never really get past the shtick. However, Fitzgerald does a fine job as Imogene's sweet "special" adult brother Ralph, he is so innocently wide eyed and optimistic that you could hate Imogene for not coming to visit in years.
To be fair, there are many funny moments in Girl Most Likely. Awkward laugh out loud gold moments. The film keeps going back and forth between outrageous comedy to slow burning indie, making it an uneven ride. It's about Imogene growing up and learning to love the family she has and not the one she thinks they should be- and she does learn to love them but it's not enough. She has larger issues and the ending doesn't feel resolved for her or an audience who spends 103 minutes trying to root for her. -
phd_travel11 August 2015This movie has some good bones but what's in between isn't that great. The dialog and situations could have been funnier. A Manhattan writer gets laid off and has to go back home to New Jersey for a while.
The cast is funny and likable especially the supporting cast. Annette Benning does well as the mother with impulse control problems. Matt Dillon is always a great comedic actor and he plays Annette's boyfriend. Kristin Wiig is good but her character she plays isn't terribly sympathetic or lovable. Darren Criss of Glee plays a lodger in Annette's Ocean City home and sings a bit.
The contrast of the culture difference between arty Manhattan and Ocean City NJ is funny and could have been played up more.
Overall worth one watch for the cast but it is a little lacking in laughs. -
Doesn't require too much thinking, just a nice watch. For everyone complaining that it's not funny enough and leaving bad reviews based on that, just know that funny actors are capable of playing non-comedic roles. This is more of a drama than a comedy but has some funny moments sprinkled throughout. Nothing spectacular, but enjoyable. I've seen it a couple dozen times probably lmao.
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jwbrown3-939-21084822 March 2014I do love a coming of age story - and this movie does not disappoint.I find it interesting that the characters in these kinds of stories are getting older. All those teenage coming of age stories of times past are making way for new life transition. In this case, it's a career meltdown for Imogene (Kristen Wiig) who is in her late thirties. It's not new to see Wiig playing an annoying, selfish character - but it's refreshing to see her play it "straight" rather than for cheap laughs. Annette Benning is wonderful as the mother and I really enjoyed Darren Criss's easy going nice-guy performance. A special mention goes to Christopher Fitzgerald for his heartwarming portrayal of brother Ralph. Thankfully this is no paint-by- numbers romcom. It's intelligent, funny, heartwarming and worth a watch.
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jmc476926 July 2013To me the current IMDb rating of six is more accurate than the tomatometer rating of 14%. The IMDb rating is right in line with the audience rating of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think the critics got it wrong on this one. Maybe they were expecting a raunchy commercial comedy like Bridesmaids. But the only similarity between the two movies is the leading actress. Girl Most Likely is a quirky indie drama about a dysfunctional family. It has a few amusing scenes, but I wouldn't call it a comedy, especially not the type of comedy that's currently popular. It's an enjoyable movie if you accept it on those terms, particularly if you like Kristin Wiig and Annette Benning. Rotten Tomatoes described the film as "largely witless and disappointingly dull." That description might be accurate...if you're talking about Frances Ha, a similar movie that the critics gushed over. As for the "false and forced finale" (as one critic put it), it's not that different from the feel-good ending of Francis Ha. Go figure.
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jkbonner125 July 2013If I wrote a longer review, I'd merely be parroting the words of Kevin who's already reviewed this movie (Full of potential, but falls flat--18 July 2013). When I read the blurb that induced me to go, it did sound like it had promising potential. But doing a really good comedy is hard to pull off. You need a good combination of intelligence and wit. And watching the first ten minutes of Girl Most Likely, I knew it just wasn't going to cut it. It was just too far out there and remained so throughout most of the movie. Some people like "too far out there." To me it's analogous to violence in a murder or torture drama. If it's done with intelligence and is integral to the plot, then I can accept it. If it isn't, then it's gratuitous. And I'm not interested in gratuitous. That said, it wasn't totally terrible. I found myself laughing some of the time. And by far about the only not-too-far-out-there character was the young boarder (played effectively by Darren Criss). Other than a few of the scenes though, if was really hard for me to empathize with most of the characters.
I give it 5 out of 10 for a good swing. Maybe with a better script and/or director it might have pulled if off. -
djbuddy975 January 2014After watching this film, my girlfriend said, "ya know, thebest way to enjoy a movie is to go into it with no expectations.
Well, that's how we viewed this. It was a late rental, from a kiosk, and we picked it based on the box figuring it would be "something light and fun" because it had Kristen Wig. Oddly, it got too late to watch anything until the next day, and boy I'm glad we waited.
Much of the description is in the synopsis of this film. I call it a "film" because it is just that - it's not your typical Hollywood comedy of breakup, or heartache, or going for cheap laughs. Nor is it a tug on your heartstrings predictable drama. Instead this film has the perfect mix, and warm story of an independent film, with some, but not too many quirky family relationships, and real, flawed love story, with family, friendships...some hope, some heartache.
I'm used to seeing Kristin Wig in silly comedic roles - in this, Wig, Benning, Matt Dylan, et. al are all outstanding...just watch it. Warm, warm film. -
HotToastyRag23 March 2021I'm not really a Kristin Wiig fan, so I wasn't the target audience for this comedy. But for the sake of Matt Dillon, I gave Girl Most Likely a chance. He was my favorite part of the movie, a hilarious CIA agent named George Bousche (or is he?) dating the much older and clearly unbalanced Annette Bening. The apple didn't really fall far from Annette's tree: Kristin is her daughter and has severe emotional problems and bad judgment. In an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend's affections, she pretends to attempt suicide. It backfires, and instead, the law commands her to stay with her mother for her own safety.
The vast majority of the movie is about Kristin, her antics, her odd friendships and her attempt to accept her life the way it is rather than the way she wished it would be. If you like her humor, you'll probably really like this movie. In spite of myself, I laughed far more times than I thought I would. I still would have liked it better if the delightful and charming Annette and Matt had the most screen time, with Kristin a small slice of the story. -
thefan-22 August 2015There is a genre of film - this one and Switch come to mind - that depict the denizens of New York City as absurdly neurotic fast-talkers who can't seem to find happiness but who, you realize as the movie hits the 5-minute mark, are all secretly pleased about their excruciating personalities and their irrelevant lives. Pleased. Pleased, when they should be looking in the mirror and telling themselves to snap out of it and get over themselves.
I am here to tell you that these movie characters are all figments of some writer's lazy imagination. Do not be afraid to move to New York, it's a lovely place with all kinds of nice people. If you move there - specifically, to the island of Manhattan, either east of west of Central Park or points south - you will find that if you love the city, it will love you back. It's as simple as that. And I promise you will never meet idiots like the preposterous fictions in these movies. -
botrytis18 January 2020Kristen Wiig is fantastic, her affinity towards comedy and drama is top-notchly represented here, the story is kinda crazy and absurd but also relatable overall, with everyday situations. It's a warm, pleasant movie to watch that just wants to give you a nice ride with you sitting in the passenger seat running through as minimal bumps on the road as it can.
Overall it's nothing special but nor unoriginal, it's sitting right in the middle between these two and you won't mind it a bit because it's just fun to watch.
P.S.: I just wanted to watch a movie at late night with having a minor depression, under the weather effect on me and this flick was just the perfect thing to see. -
I made myself watch the whole movie, but this is not my type of movie. I have seen this type of movie done well but it's very rare. So here is the summary: Girl thinks very highly of herself. So she surrounds herself with other people who think highly of themselves. Only to realize they are all full of BS. The other side of the fence is "I'm just as weird and f-ed up as everyone else."
So you get to choose between authentic weirdos and pompous a-holes.
And that is what she does at the end.
This is supposed to be a comedy but I only laughed out loud about 2 times in the movie and chuckled about 5 times. Pretty low on the comedy scale.
To me the most memorable character was the brother. His development might be enough to recommend the movie, but his screen time is very short.
Annette Bening is still as talented and beautiful as ever. She really looked great in this movie. She played the selfish mom "but I'm trying so hard..... oh, is that for me??" very well.
Matt Dillion? GAG. Useless in this movie. They could have cut him from nearly ever scene and it would not have made any difference.
I guess the moral of this movie is, "With enough alcohol anyone's life can be fun." -
Kbelicious26 April 2014How is this movie getting good user reviews? It's terrible. It starts out okay and you think that you might be in for a surprise but then it just turns into every cliché available! Bad, bad, bad ending. The characters are walking stereotypes, no originality, and Imogene is super unlikeable! Just one example is her outrage at her mother renting out her room although she has never been home since she left high school many years earlier. She is utterly self absorbed and judgmental. Another thing I strongly dislike is a fat shaming incident near the end where to get back at someone who was unkind to Imogene she is told her butt looks huge in her dress and we're supposed to think this puts her in her place. This script was written by a woman! Come on woman, break out of that crap! It had potential but did not fulfill it at all.
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Kristen Wiig's plays Imogene Duncan, a failing New York City playwright, whose boyfriend dumps her and she loses her job as a writer. Annette Beninh played her mother who likes to spend her time at the casinos. Her brother Ralph is an oddball of sorts. When Imogene attempts suicide, her mother brings her home to Ocean City, New Jersey. Her mother has a younger boyfriend and rents her room to Lee. Zelda has kept a longtime secret about Ralph and Imogene's father. The mother's boyfriend is played by Matt Dillon with secrets of his own. Annette Bening really gives a breakout performance. Christopher Fitzgerald's performance as Ralph is also memorable. Darren Criss was also excellent as Lee, the Yale graduate renting her room. Natasha Lyonne has a small role here too.
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semperfi177513711 October 2017This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I'm not going to go into detail, but it seemed like it leaned too heavily on Wiig and Benning, but really no substance, made no sense and I didn't laugh once. Still not sure what the point of this movie was. It was just very strange. Do not waste your time.
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I really wanted to make this one of my favorite movies of the summer. I recently saw Darren Criss in concert, and loved him while he was in "A Very Potter Musical", so I decided to take the trip to Boston to see this. Note that Boston is about an hour and a half from where I live, so it was no leisurely car ride. After enduring bumper to bumper traffic, we finally showed up at the AMC theater in order to see the 10:30 showing. The movie began, and at first it was as slow as molasses, but eventually it picked up (after Imogene's boyfriend inconveniently breaks up with her and she gets fired from her job on the same day). This may be biased, but the funniest parts were those with Darren Criss in them. Him & Wiig have a hilarious chemistry with one another, which made the movie more delightful to watch. Their acting off one another was great and they did wonders for the story telling of the movie. However, many of the other actors made it drag on and, at times, I felt like I may fall asleep. However, the ending is hilarious. There's a huge twist with a bunch of guns & unlikely heroes. Didn't see it coming at all. I'd say definitely rent it once it comes out, and if it plays in a theater close to you, go. If not, don't drive out of your way to see it.
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Spoiler is not in the first part. It is at the end of this review.
It was somewhat amusing in places. I've heard people say Kristen Wiig is funny so I thought I'd give it a try. It was so all over the place. First she's in NYC, then a hospital, then she goes to Jersey, then back to NYC, the story is just so all over the place. There were too many characters and I didn't really care about them. I didn't like it, especially the end. It wasn't that funny either. I watched it on Netflix. I'd advise if you really want to see it, don't pay a lot for it.
SPOILER-----------
Don't read next part if you haven't seen it---------
So she goes to see her dad and he offers to give her money and that's why she thinks he's a piece of ****? I just didn't buy that. Then all of a sudden she's happy with her mom. Too formulaic.
I can't recommend it. -
elfin3-565-82740228 July 2013I was excited to see this movie based on the trailer, but I was also worried because I saw initial reviews claiming it wasn't really very funny. There was nothing to worry about.
I know I wasn't alone in that theater in laughing out loud really loudly because it was just that funny! I was one of my favorite movie-going experiences in recent memory because the whole audience was together for the ride and thoroughly enjoying it. For that reason alone, I recommend seeing it in theaters, if possible. If not, do watch it with friends when it's out on video. It was funny even when it was sad and touching. The relationships between all of the characters are interesting and develop throughout the film, and everyone does a splendid job. It left me both happy and contemplative. -
kentotas27 November 2013While I thought the script was funny and the acting solid, I always get hung up on screenwriter's lack of fact checking. When Wiig gets placed under involuntary psych. care, they call it a "5150" - That term is only used in L.A. - not in NY or NJ!!! I realize most screenwriters are based in L.A. (including this one) but can't they do some basic fact-checking before you write the final script? It seems lazy not to and it makes me lose interest in the film as a whole once I see these types of glaring errors. I know this isn't a serious dramatic film on psych disorders but it isn't the no-budget junior high school production of Oklahoma either.
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If you want typical Kristen Wiig then this movie is one you will enjoy. Wiig is the master of tragic comedy. Taking real downtrodden beaten down women who are struggling in their lives and making jokes about it while just being sad and spiraling out of control. I was a little uncomfortable seeing Blaine AKA Darren Criss as her love interest considering Darren is in his 20's and Wiig is in her 40's so that left me a little uneasy. I mean older women can be cougars all day long but when you are so used to seeing Darren play a gay high schooler it can be a little troubling seeing his as a man let alone the love interest of a much older woman.
The guy that played the brother was brilliant like an idiot savant his character was a really enjoyable one I could have watched a movie based on him alone it wasn't clear what exactly was wrong with him it was never stated.
Watch this movie if you are into Kristen Wiig and you enjoy her genre of sad down trodden women who laugh it off and get through it by treating everything like a big joke. -
george.schmidt27 July 2013GIRL MOST LIKELY (2013) ** Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, Darren Criss, Christopher Fitzgerald, June Diane Raphael, Natasha Lyonne, Bob Balaban, Patricia Kalember (Cameos as themselves: Julia Stiles, Andrea Martin, Whit Stillman) Disappointing comedy vehicle for Wiig as a recently jilted and terminated failed NYC playwright whose half-hearted suicide attempt lands her back with her dysfunctional New Jersey family including her embarrassing mother (Bening attempting to have some fun here) and borderline autistic brother (Fitzgerald) as she attempts to regain her ex and ex-life's potentials. While Michelle Morgan's uneven screenplay (jaded dark comedy; parable about how family really matters) the true fault is within tag-team directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini who let their star flounder instead of shining lights upon her comedic skills (and wasting others' like Dillon's carbon copy from THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY). A few laughs when there should be many.