Reduced-laugh diet

Zombieland

Crit

Fear not, oh you who aspire to write the first really funny zomcom: it is still to be done. Voiceover prelude sets the tone: you can just tell that the writers (Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, whoever they are) think this is killer stuff, when in fact it's mildly amusing at best. The one really funny segment--which I'll refer to as the BM sequence, so as not to spoil it--occurs midway through the film and then is just gone, gone, gone.

I almost skipped this on the basis of Manohla Dargis's review until I noticed that it was drawing a huge rating from the Rotten Tomatoes Top Critics. Inexplicable. Next time, I'll believe you, Manohla.

Weird little thing: isn't that familiar carousel tune whose name I don't know the one we hear in Strangers on a Train? I'll find out soon enough, since I'd already planned to watch it tonight.

Trailers

• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day--Story in today's Times makes both the film and its writer-director, Troy Duffy, sound despicable.