Keira Kneightly is a good actress and a joy to watch, but mediocre dialogue and this story line cannot be cured by her beauty. She is not that pretty. She needs better material or her career will plummet to the depths. Laggies, written while yawning by Andrea Seigel, is about a twenty something, Megan (Keira Kneightly), facing an age crisis. What to do with her boring life? If it is so boring, why are we watching a movie about it? Should she marry the schlump to whom she is engaged? No way, Jose! Anthony (Mark Webber) is beyond dull to watch. No sparks ignite this painful relationship. For excitement and escape Megan acquiesces to buy alcohol for sixteen year old Annika ( Chloe Grace Moritz) and begins to run with her while playing with skateboards. Oh, please!
Annika's Mom (Gretchen Mol) delivers this movies high note when she tries to be a mother she does not want to be. She prefers modeling lingerie for catalogs and gives some kinky bras to her estranged daughter, Annika, in an effort to relate. Mol brings magic to Laggies. I was about to walk out when Mol's saucy, sly, well-thought out moments ignited the screen as she suffers with guilt about the mother she has been and also the guilt about the mother she does not want to be. "Give me catalog modeling any day, " Mol's character, Bethany, seems to cry out.
As I was about to leave for the second time Craig (Sam Rockwell) makes his sly, sensual entrance. Stay, my inner critic shouted as I looked at his battered attaché case and sad lingering body movements. Craig is a tortured divorce lawyer who tries to be a Pop to his precious 16 -year -old Annika and has hit a brick wall called loneliness and let's -have -a -drink.
When Megan and Craig finally do get together, the passion is fierce. Perfect coupling. But my, it takes so long to get to this point that it truly was a miracle I stayed though Prom Night, a potential wedding in Vegas and a boring bachelorette party filled with more bad jokes than popcorn in my buttery bag.
The end did not come soon enough. A movie about Craig and Megan might be a treat, but this scotch taped together plot made for one losing movie.
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