Given that the arrested development subgenre of comedy is chiefly the domain of men and man children, it’s nice to see the field finally tackled from a refreshing female perspective. However, while an admirable vantage point of the trapped in adultlescence genus, “Laggies,” the new film by director Lynn Shelton, is often wildly implausible (even for a comedy), positions its sympathies in questionable places and is a mess of a movie that lands all over the place.
Megan (Keira Knightley) has a posse of pals from high school, which includes her patient and ineffectual boyfriend (Mark Webber) and her prissy, uptight best friend (Ellie Kemper, who needs to find a new archetype to try out stat). Initially BFFs forever, Megan’s lack of growth soon finds herself at odds from her friends, who are planning weddings, having babies and moving forward in their lives. Stunted, with zero direction, she barely works outside helping with her father’s (Jeff Garlin) tax business as a sign girl...
