Synopsis:
After losing her job and her fiancé, a struggling middle-aged New York City writer loses her mind as well. She is forced to move back in with her kooky mother and a merry band of misfits in Ocean City, trying in comedic and awkward vain to get her life back together.

Cast:
Kristen Wiig is Imogene, slowly breaking down, offering up lots of physical comedy. Annette Bening is her fun-loving and zany mom Zelda (she has a zany name, too!), while Matt Dillon is her peculiar younger boyfriend who makes Imogene uncomfortable.

Review:
Nevermind unrelatable, try insufferable. The out-of-touch, materialistic female upper class of New York City features in this almost-funny wannabe hybrid of Sex and the City and Arrested Development that turns on a familiar story of a woman once a have, and now a have-not.

For far too long the idea is hammered home that Zelda, Imogene’s hip young mother, is selfish and out of touch and that this mother-daughter relationship is one literally frayed enough to make Imogene run for the door. Brought home from the hospital, Imogene remains in her gown, suggesting that she is not only a fish out of water in seaside Jersey, but that she is slowly floating belly up towards the surface.

A return to Ocean City forces Imogene to deal with past family issues: an overbearing mom, a sloven brother, a dead father. Absurd situations beget absurd situation, while the film tries to keep a straight face and still be quirky, all at the same time.

What’s supposed to be funny is just sad; the interesting just boring. After a stay in a hospital and a living room blanket fort (her mother rented out her room), Imogene finds herself in jail. Upon being bailed, she is asked how it was. “Disappointing,” she remarks.

Sadly that comment stands out, for all the talent of Wiig, who is adept at physical awkwardness and comedic timing, she and others are given an uninspired and drawn-out story that isn’t quite sure how serious, how odd, and how silly it wants to be.

Should You See It?
A film that is too overt, too predictable, and too long, there are far more interesting versions of this story out there.

[star v=2]