One way to recognise a Happy Madison production is that the comedy gets very physical. People trip over, fall from heights, are run over by cars or chased by dogs, find themselves covered in bodily fluids and more. Their latest film, The Out-Laws, streaming on Netflix, is no different. It hits the same beats as many of its predecessors, but boasts a degree of self-awareness that holds it in good stead.
Bank manager Owen Browning (Adam Devine) and yoga instructor Parker McDermott (Nina Dobrev) are a week away from their wedding. While Browning’s parents make things uncomfortable every time they open their mouths, the McDermotts (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) have been missing in action. So much so that Owen has never even met them. They, however, turn up right before the wedding. Around the same time, Browning’s bank gets robbed by two masked miscreants. No prizes for guessing why the film is called The Out-Laws.
It relies heavily on the outlandishness of the whole premise, but barring Devine, the central characters don’t ooze conviction. He goes all out and displays a proclivity to this brand of humour, and has enough innocence to do bizarre actions and say preposterous lines. Compared to him, Brosnan and Barkin appear too stoic and poised. They repeat the shtick of being tough in-laws to a socially awkward Browning, and after a point, it feels jaded. Dobrev too gets a raw deal as she is left to just react to situations rather than actively participate.
The only actors to have got the assignment right are Poorna Jagannathan, Lauren Lupkus and Michael Rooker, who ham it up like there is no tomorrow. Theirs are characters that are outrageously over-the-top, but fit into the world of The Out-Laws just fine. Others play it too straight and rely on the wry one-liners to do the heavy lifting.
What does work in favour of the film, however, is the central conceit of the film––a bank heist. It is no Italian Job, but The Out-Laws keeps the crime simple yet incredulous, and trains its focus more on the relationship drama, rather than the technicalities, making the film an easy afternoon watch, but nothing more.
