I’M A LITTLE TIRED of movies insisting that women can be funny. I know women can be funny (hello, all of my friends!), but the strained, overeager indie comedy For a Good Time Call… flails in its determination to make a point that didn’t need making in the first place.
For a Good Time Call… is about sexual empowerment, female entrepreneurship, and how to talk on the phone with a dildo in your mouth. It positions itself as a raunchy buddy comedy that proves just how hilarious us ladies can be on the subject of S-E-X, and it’s padded with humor of the oh-my-gawd-can-you-believe-Samantha-just-said-that variety. (Can you believe I just said that thing about a dildo in your mouth??)
When enemies-turned-roommates Katie (Ari Graynor; hot, blonde, “free spirit”) and Lauren (Lauren Miller; prudish, brunette, “straight laced”) need a creative way to make rent, they turn to phone sex, starting their own company (yay, female-owned businesses!) and learning a thing or two about themselves in the process (boo, clichéd script about adult women who have no understanding of their own sexuality!).
For a Good Time Call… tries very, very hard to be shockingly hilarious, which is why you’ll be treated to scenes of Katie lapping on a dildo while pretending to give a phone blowjob. If you’ve ever wanted to see Kevin Smith masturbating in a car, this is the movie for you—the girls’ client list features a star-studded series of cameos from the likes of Smith, Ken Marino, and Seth Rogen (Rogen is the real-life husband of co-star Miller, who co-wrote the film). And in some of the worst casting I’ve seen in a while, the insufferable Justin Long slaps on some gayface and lisps his way through the role of the girls’ sassy gay best friend.
For a Good Time Call… strains to be raunchy and subversive, but it forgets to be honest. Sure, it’s great that Katie and Lauren aren’t ashamed of their sexuality—but the demands of the formulaic plot dictate that they’re both afraid of it instead. Cute girls mugging with a giant dildo can only go so far to distract from that problem. Especially when it’s not even funny mugging with a giant dildo.