This is supposed to be a rom-com, set against the backdrop of a political campaign. But rom-coms live or die based up the likability of their two lead characters.
Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky, a political writer who specializes in expletives. We first see him with a group of neo-Nazis he has infiltrated. They are portrayed as more stupid than dangerous. But they manage to bust his cover and he barely escapes by jumping through a window to the sidewalk below. It is not the only time Fred takes a fall that should be fatal in this film. Apparently, it is meant to be funny, like a cartoon fall.
Charlize Theron plays Charlotte Field, a Rhodes scholar who is U. S. Secretary of State. She is a political character in every sense of the word. She thinks of life in terms of polling and stances. Practically before the current president can finish telling her he will not be running for reelection, she has mapped a strategy to the oval office and assembled a team of image makers. She also takes a government jet on a whirlwind tour of nations to promote her new climate plan.
Viewers will decide whether or not they find these two characters likable. Fred Flarsky does not seem far removed from other crass characters played by Rogen in the past. And Charlotte Field seems reminiscent of other characters who have stooped to conquer charmless schlubs. To make these scenarios work, there needs to be charm. Think of Phil in "Groundhog Day", who grows into his charm.
As for the comedy, much of it is Roganesque, boner-centric humor that looks for laughs in race-based issues or bodily functions.
In one scene, Fred and Charlotte are laying waste to their working relationship, he saying she has sold out, and she saying he needs to do whatever is asked of him regardless of his principles. Then they stop to look at the aurora borealis, and miraculously they are happy again. Perhaps that is the fantasy this film is selling: that political operatives can subjugate their needs and values, look into each others' souls, and find fulfillment in superficialities.
Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky, a political writer who specializes in expletives. We first see him with a group of neo-Nazis he has infiltrated. They are portrayed as more stupid than dangerous. But they manage to bust his cover and he barely escapes by jumping through a window to the sidewalk below. It is not the only time Fred takes a fall that should be fatal in this film. Apparently, it is meant to be funny, like a cartoon fall.
Charlize Theron plays Charlotte Field, a Rhodes scholar who is U. S. Secretary of State. She is a political character in every sense of the word. She thinks of life in terms of polling and stances. Practically before the current president can finish telling her he will not be running for reelection, she has mapped a strategy to the oval office and assembled a team of image makers. She also takes a government jet on a whirlwind tour of nations to promote her new climate plan.
Viewers will decide whether or not they find these two characters likable. Fred Flarsky does not seem far removed from other crass characters played by Rogen in the past. And Charlotte Field seems reminiscent of other characters who have stooped to conquer charmless schlubs. To make these scenarios work, there needs to be charm. Think of Phil in "Groundhog Day", who grows into his charm.
As for the comedy, much of it is Roganesque, boner-centric humor that looks for laughs in race-based issues or bodily functions.
In one scene, Fred and Charlotte are laying waste to their working relationship, he saying she has sold out, and she saying he needs to do whatever is asked of him regardless of his principles. Then they stop to look at the aurora borealis, and miraculously they are happy again. Perhaps that is the fantasy this film is selling: that political operatives can subjugate their needs and values, look into each others' souls, and find fulfillment in superficialities.
