[yasr_overall_rating]
The head of a high school reunion committee travels to Los Angeles to track down the most popular guy from his graduating class and convince him to go to the reunion.
All his life, Dan Landsman (Jack Black) has never been the cool guy. He’s hoping to change that by convincing Oliver Lawless (James Marsden), the most popular guy from his high school to show up with him to their 20th class reunion. Lawless is living in LA and is the spokesperson for a national Banana Boat commercial campaign. A man on a mission, Dan travels from Pittsburgh to LA and spins a web of lies to recruit Lawless. But he gets more than he bargains for as the unpredictable Lawless proceeds to take over his home, career, and entire life. “The D Train” serves up the question: how far would you go to be popular?
“The D Train” is being advertised as a comedy, but it’s very obvious after the first fifteen minutes that directors Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel have made their directing debut with a film that is only funny around the edges. I went to see “The D Train” expecting the humor that Jack Black has delivered in his other movies. I left the theatre depressed and with a definite relief that my time with Dan Landsman was over.
Landsman is the ultimate awkward, unpopular, no friends guy that everyone avoids in high school…and beyond into adult hood. He tries too hard to be liked, and has few social skills. Oliver Lawless was the guy in high school that everyone wanted to be or be with. In Landsman’s eye’s Lawless is still that guy. In reality Lawless is a washed up actor barely making the rent, but plays along with Landsman’s fantasy.
On paper, this partnership of characters looks like a non stop comedy of errors. On the big screen I was delivered scenes that were constantly reminding me of how sad life can be when you don’t have the ambition or drive to live life to the fullest.
The story was never over the top enough to be funny. A few penis jokes and awkward sex situations weren’t enough to make me feel like I’d seen a comedy. Many comedians have crossed over from comedy to drama and won endearing places in my heart. It’s almost as if Black was trying to do this, but kept his comic safety blanket tucked behind him for good measure, and tripping over it every time he turned around.
Through most of the movie I had that squirming in your seat uncomfortable feeling that you get when you see someone making a horrible mistake or having a terrible accident. I kept hoping there would be something redeeming about “The D Train,” there never was.
In theaters May 8th
