FilmSnobReviews

Title:  Queenpins
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly
Starring: Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

What It Is: Connie (Bell) is tired of living paycheck to paycheck. She utilizes coupons to save money. When she discovers that companies will issue coupons for FREE merchandise for people when they complain about the product she begins to see how she can make this profitable. With the help of her friend JoJo (Howell-Baptiste) they’ll build an empire on the backs of major corporations losing their minds. Mail inspector Simon Kilmurry (Vince Vaughn) is on the case to solve who it is that’s printing and distributing these “fake” coupons. With loss prevention agent Ken (Hauser) on the case with him perhaps these white-color criminals will get away with it.

What We Think: This is one of those situations where the potential for comedy never reached the level it should have. Kristen Bell is a very funny woman…under normal circumstances. With the variables presented here, Connie just comes off as an annoyance. Walter Hauser is funny in spurts but it’s only at the expense of his characters and not that genuine. There’s nothing to write home about from a direction standpoint. It’s an adequately made film. Its sole problems stem from the script and material. A comedy should be funny. This one simply isn’t. It’s hijinx and schtick presented as solid jokes but it doesn’t work. At least it won’t for most audiences.

Our Grade: C-, Stranded by its own mediocrity there just isn’t really any reason to seek this one out. That’ll be one of those films that’s just on because the rights were cheap on some random Tuesday in March. It’ll fade away. There was so much potential to do some real good here. Squandered by a script that does nothing productive with its overbloated runtime. In all seriousness, there’s no reason for this to be almost 2 hours and feel even longer.