Keeping us invested in characters who are actively harming one another is a tricky balancing act: you need to go Farrelly Brothers-level big or Alexander Payne-level dark, and unfortunately The Layover does neither. (Or tries to, before her anti-anxiety meds render her incapable of speech.)įrom there the game is on, with both women one-upping the other in a shitty, escalating contest of wiles. When a hot guy (Matt Barr) sits between them on the flight, an emboldened (and heavily medicated) Kate hits her limit with Meg's shameless flirting and shade-throwing, and lays down the gauntlet. That spreads into their therapeutic, spontaneous 'girls trip' trip to Florida, with Meg continuing her low-key belittling of Kate even before the plane takes off. Both have judgmental attitudes toward the other from the jump, revealed with the slightest prodding and enough wine. Their bristling animosity continues to be seeded early, as the more sexually empowered Meg takes a swipe at the reserved Kate while they watch The Bachelor and imagine out loud how they'd do on the show. Returning to their shared apartment to commiserate, both judge the other for their respective coping mechanisms.

Both react to their very bad day in their own way: Kate opts for retail therapy while Meg fucks her Uber driver. Macy’s film starts with an adorably ‘80s, Ivan Reitman/Harold Ramis-esque setup (courtesy of writers Lance Krall and David Hornsby): Kate (Alexandra Daddario) is 'asked to vacate' her teaching position after letting a kid read a hentai comic to the rest of the class, while would-be cosmetics entrepreneur Meg (Kate Upton) botches a retail deal when a department store head learns her sketchy cosmetics are from North Korea. And that’s actually a rich idea for a story, but The Layover is ultimately too sweet an endeavor to really dig into this premise.ĭirector William H. Their feud is ostensibly over a man, but it's really about just being sick of one another’s bullshit. That’s the sentiment at the heart of The Layover, a movie which pits two best friends against each other. And their front-row seat makes them the first to tire of your shortcomings, your flaws, your failings. It's a horrible, ugly truth: the person who knows you better than anyone can, given the provocation, become your worst, most effective enemy, armed as they are with all your secrets and vulnerabilities.

The layover review