A.C.O.D, 2013
Directed by Stu Zicherman
Written by Stu Zicherman and Ben Karlin
Starring Adam Scott, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Clark Duke, Amy Poehler, Jessica Alba and Jane Lynch
SYNOPSIS:
A grown man is still caught in the crossfire of his parents 15 year divorce. He discovers he was unknowingly part of a study on divorced children and is enlisted in a follow-up years later, which wreaks new havoc on his family.
Looking at the cast list for A.C.O.D led me to believe that we were in for a fun time. However the biggest problem with the movie is that I’m not sure whether it was trying to be a comedy movie. Because if it was, then it’s failed miserably.
A.C.O.D stands for Adult Child of Divorce and aside from a terrible title, the movie just isn’t funny enough. It has a few chuckles here and there, but the characters are just horrible people. Adam Scott (who was far and away the funniest thing in Step Brothers) is a complaining, self-centred whiner who does nothing but piss and moan throughout the runtime. His parents, played admittedly quite brilliantly by Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara, are also very self-centred who don’t care about the feelings of the other characters. It makes it so hard to side with someone in the movie and you just end up really feeling for Mary Elizabeth Winstead who plays Scott’s girlfriend Lauren as she’s caught in the middle of all this awfulness.
I will admit that there are a few laughs to be had mostly from Jane Lynch who is, let’s be honest, brilliant in everything she does. But everything that could be funny is overshadowed by the boring and plodding story which just isn’t strong enough to carry the runtime. It’s not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s not very good either.
But I again question whether the film is trying to be a comedy. Remember the closing credits of The Other Guys when they start giving out facts about stocks, shares and banks? It was such an odd addition to the film because it then made it look like The Other Guys was trying to make a political statement about the world’s economy. Well A.C.O.D also does the same thing by interviewing the crew on how their parent’s divorce effected them as kids and adults. So was A.C.O.D trying to make a statement on the country’s divorce rate and the possible mental effects it can cause on a child? And if it was, why did they do it in a film with such a great comedy line-up?
It’s just a bizarre conclusion to what is, ultimately, not a funny enough film. And when you have this level of comedic talent on show, you can not be forgiven for turning out just a few chuckles. A.C.O.D fails at being a comedy and if it was trying to make a statement about divorce it failed at that too. If you want to make a movie about that subject matter, be my guest. But do it in a mature manner that isn’t covered up by a pretty sub-par comedy.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published April 28, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
