Friday Flicks: Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston Feel the Wanderlust

Grab some popcorn! TIME's Glen Levy brings you the movies you should check out (or avoid) this weekend.

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Wanderlust

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Tagline: Leave your baggage behind.

Amid the buzz justifiably surrounding the Judd Apatow stable of comedies, which broke out in a major way a few years ago (Knocked Up, Superbad), it was all too easy to neglect slightly softer offerings starring Paul Rudd, like I Love You, Man and Role Models. And that last example was directed by David Wain, who has hooked up again with Rudd on Wanderlust. Intriguingly, though, the movie has Mr. Apatow on board as a producer.

And Wain has arguably upgraded his cast, as Rudd’s George finds himself as one part of a Manhattan couple, with his other half, Linda, played by Jennifer Aniston. In light of George losing his job, they find themselves confronted by an awful reality: they need to move in with his nightmare of a brother, Rick (Ken Marino), who gives George a helping hand with the offer of a new job.

Before long, George and Linda have had enough and come across Elysium, which is one of those idyllic communities that you might suspect of being a nudist colony (and yes, we realize we’re dramatically over-simplifying what goes on there). Can it provide a fresh start for the down-on-their-luck couple, or will this new way of looking at issues result in more problems than ever before?

The critics certainly don’t seem to have problems with the movie, marking Wanderlust as wonderful. “Every actor who gets the joke shines, even when the story occasionally bumbles and bobbles its momentum,” raves TIME’s sister publication Entertainment Weekly in a most impressive A- review. “If the ensuing plot beats are easy to chart in advance, they’re sold by a good-natured cast and filmmakers who understand they’ll get plenty of laughs,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. And the Associated Press nearly runs away with itself: “Some jokes get hammered into the ground repeatedly; others go on well past the point of cringe-inducing awkwardness, which is the point. But some do reach the levels of brilliant, unfettered lunacy to which they aspire.” Brilliant, unfettered lunacy, you say? Where do we sign up?

PHOTOS: Stoner Cinema

Good Deeds

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Tagline: Wesley Deeds Is About To Discover The Person He Was Meant To Be.

Tyler Perry’s Wesley Deeds is a successful businessman who has always done what’s expected of him. (You don’t get a surname like that in the movies by dumb luck, you know.) When it comes to business, he’s taken control of his father’s firm. When it comes to his family, he’s put up with his brother’s wayward ways at the workplace. When it comes to his life, he’s set fair on making an honest woman out of his unsettled fiancée, Natalie (Gabrielle Union).

Sure enough, the status quo can’t remain in place, and when our Wesley has the fortune to meet Lindsey (Thandie Newton), a single mother who works on the cleaning staff in his office building, he can’t help but offer to help her with her life. And this change from the norm sets Wesley off in a direction he’s unaccustomed to: the unpredictable.

And unpredictable is unfortunately what we have to tell you about the movie, as it doesn’t seem as if Good Deeds was being screened for the critics. Box office returns — and early word of mouth — will tell whether this was a wise move or not.

LIST: See Tyler Perry in the TIME 100

Gone

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Tagline: No One Believes Her. Nothing Will Stop Her.

It was only a matter of time before Amanda Seyfried started to regularly snag lead roles in movies. She’s more than held her own in the likes of Red Riding Hood, Chloe, Dear John, Letters to Juliet and In Time, but none had a a plot as disturbing as this one.

Upon returning home from work, Seyfried’s Jill Parrish finds out that her sister, Molly, has been abducted. But this may not be an isolated incident: Jill, you see, managed to escape from a kidnapping of her own just a year before, and is understandably convinced that the same serial killer has come back onto the scene. Sadly for Jill, as the killer hasn’t left a trace, the police don’t have any evidence and can’t help her. Jill is convinced that her sister is done for, so sets out by herself to track down the killer and save her sister.

There isn’t a whole lot in the way of reviews to enlighten you about thus far, save for Matt’s Movie Reviews, which concludes that, “For the material on offer Seyfried does a solid job, yet she doesn’t have that particular kind of talent to rise above the writing. Bad dialogue delivered by a good actor is still bad dialogue, and Gone has more than its share.” In other words, Gone and forgotten.

MORE: TIME’s Top 10 Movies of 2011

NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick:  There can’t have been a week with a more obvious winner. Not only does Wanderlust seem to check all the right boxes, but also there’s barely anything ressembling a review with our other movies. Why not check out Rudd and Aniston in action before settling down to the Oscars? Hollywood will thank you for your service.

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