Ms. Amused

Rewatching this movie for the first time in a long time. Trying to remember the first time I ever watched it. I think I picked it up as a browsing choice back in college and was just floored at how funny the movie was.

I haven’t seen any of the funny yet 25 minutes into the movie. This isn’t looking good but they are just about to hit the road.

So here’s the premise. Paul Rudd is Wyatt Trips, a college freshmen who’s been deeply in love with his beautiful high school girlfriend, played by Christine Taylor, since forever. At her insistence, they have remained celibate and will stay that way til after they graduate. Trips is a sappy guy and goes along with it.

Til one day when he calls her at her college to be subjected to a rant by a roommate about how Kim and the “Ricker” couldn’t keep it quiet last night.

Whoops…

Drunken tirade at the local strip joint nets a meeting with a stripper, the devil-minded Ivy, played by Reese Witherspoon. She convinces him to write a Dear Jane letter as the only way to salvage his pride and FedEx it (or Global Express it since we can’t have free advertising placement).

The next morning, he wakes up to Kim’s voice on his machine talking about having missed his call the previous night because she was out walking “the Ricker”.

Whoops….

Now we’re set up for a really entertaining movie as Ivy & Trips try to get the letter back.

Going back to the movie in play… Ivy & Trips have started on their quest to get the package back and now I remember why I liked this movie so much. It has the weird kind of madcap zany mishaps like you’d find in a Kevin Smith movie.

Oh wait… Kevin did re-write this movie! He wrote about it once in an article explaining why he hates Reese Witherspoon so much.

I really have to wonder how much of his influence has been left in the script cause some of it is really good. Yet K doesn’t think much of it at all. Oh well.

In looking up that reference, I came across a very funny “abridged Overnight Delivery” script which does nothing but play off on the Kevin Smith connection. Go read it.

Things I love about this movie… the Purple Thing they drive in, Ivy’s wacky hairdos, Trips’s weird outfits.

This movie is bringing back fond memories of last year’s road trip through the Midwest especially since they’re driving through some of the same states (just saw a scene of “entering Iowa”). And getting me excited for the next one we’re planning for end of May!

Brings me to the next OD trivia bit out there… The other night I was browsing the IMDB message board for the movie and found arguments about whether or not this movie ripped off Road Trip. Well the answer’s clear considering that this movie was made 2 years before Road Trip. And for that matter, I do not fondly remember that movie like I do this one. It had its moments but not the charm of Overnight Delivery.

The Casting Choices

Wyatt Trips: Paul Rudd proved to be an excellent choice. I remember him from Clueless which did not give him much of a chance to show off as this movie does. I had no idea he could be so funny with both his delivery and his physical presence. OD escalated him in my internal rankings and made him “one to watch for”.

Ivy: Reese… well I have to admit, I’ve never been a Reese fan. I always thought she was the kind of stuckup person that I never really get along with. Kevin’s explanation of “Greasy Reese” only cemented that feeling. That said, she can be a good actress and I really adored her in Freeway. The character Ivy has a similiar devil may care kind of attitude towards life except she’s not pessmistic like her Freeway counterpart.

Kim: Christine Taylor. Now there’s an actress that took me by surprise. She’s often played the snob cheerleader type as she does in this movie and The Craft but what’s refreshing about her is that she’s a gorgeous woman who has no problems laughing at herself or putting herself into a foolish way. I remember her guest stint on Friends where her character shaved her head. That’s always a ballsy move for an little known actress cause something like that can sink your career if Hollywood morons get you stuck in their minds as a freak. I think the fact that she’s married to Ben Stiller says the most about her cause as she’s said in various interviews, the big attraction for her is a good sense of humor.

Sadly, this role is just another 2 minute stereotyped gig for her. She does stellar as always.

Hapless Global Express deliveryman: Larry Drake. I know he’s played retarded characters before but this one is falls more in the category of just “a bit slow”. He’s very dedicated to his job and makes it his mission to make sure the letter gets delivered when he catches on to what Ivy & Trips are up to.

I won’t ruin any of the fun for you but please do not be one of those people who are incapable of suspending a little disbelief. Trust me, you’ll have more fun if you can.

Parting thought… where can I get one of those giant inflatable Elvises?