OLIVER IRVINGā€™SĀ Ghost Teamā€”available now on Google Play, and playing at Portland's Cinema 21 next weekā€”steers toward a crossroads of Safety Not GuaranteedĀ and The Blair Witch Project, but then swerves off course to crash and burn in a field of dumb dudes-calling-each-other-ā€œpussyā€ jokes. Itā€™s a film about a random assortment of suburbanites who, desperate to prove to themselves that thereā€™s more to life than ritualistic mundanity, ventures into the rural unknown to hunt ghosts. With that easy, breezy premise and a cast of historically funny actors like Jon Heder, Justin Long, and Amy Sedaris, Ghost Team initially seems destined for success.

Alas, itā€™s sabotaged by overly scripted yet awkwardly timed dialogue, a weak romance subplot, and bro humor thatā€™s well past its expiration date. None of Ghost Teamā€™s characters are likeable, except for Longā€™s portrayal of Ross, an overzealous mall cop eager to be a heroā€”albeit one with the ultimate goal of proving heā€™s not a ā€œpussy.ā€Ā Ghost Teamā€™s strongest point is its climactic kicker, when the Scooby gang finds out whatā€™sĀ reallyĀ lurking in the creaky old barnā€”which makes it even more disappointing that the rest of the movie doesnā€™t do proper justice to that sharp, creative reveal.