Courtesy Photo

Though initially it seemed as if “Failure to Launch” might revolve around a man with erectile dysfunction, it was soon clear that this movie was about something even more miserable: living-at-home-for-too-long syndrome.

Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) is a good-looking bachelor who has everything except his own pad. Though his mother does his laundry, cooks for him and generally takes care of him, Tripp is about to get a visit from a woman whose job it is to get guys out of their parents’ house.

Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a professional man-manipulator who encounters Tripp while he’s couch-shopping with his parents. Tripp’s parents decide it’s time for him to move out and quickly hire Paula to become his girlfriend without Tripp’s knowledge.

As they begin dating, however, the line between pretend girlfriend and real-life romance is blurred as Paula and Tripp begin to fall for each other.

Along the way, the pair’s friends – Kit (Zooey Deschanel), Ace (Justin Bartha) and Demo (Bradley Cooper) -are introduced. Though these characters are the most intriguing of the film, they are, unfortunately, less prominent than the mind-numbing Paula-Tripp storyline.

As Paula weaves her intricate web of lies, Tripp’s friends begin to suspect that the dream woman she pretends to be is an illusion. While it is supposed to seem obvious at this point that Paula is really falling for Tripp, the chemistry between both Parker and McConaughey is almost non-existent.

Though writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember tried their darndest to make the pitiful-guy-still-living-at-home story seem out of the ordinary, they simply did not write very interesting main characters.

A good romantic comedy should introduce idiosyncratic yet forlorn characters that are unlucky in love. McConaughey is just too gorgeous to be viewed as being pathetic and seems to play the same character he did in “The Wedding Planner.” An actor such as Jason Schwartzman would have been better choice for the part.

Not to mention that Parker also played a character who was too similar to her “Sex and the City” persona. Fortunately (and smartly), the side stories involving Tripp and Paula’s peculiar friends got enough air time to relieve the audience of the predictable performances by McConaughey and Parker.

Luckily, the main plot goes on the backburner as the quirkiness and brightness of Deschanel and Bartha’s performances easily upstage the lackluster story; they are a must-see duo.

Tripp’s relationship with his parents, Sue (Kathy Bates) and Al (Terry Bradshaw), add a nice flavor and surprising warmth to the blandness McConaughey brings to the table.

Thankfully, before the story goes completely haywire, Tripp and Paula realize they are meant for each other and the romantic comedy hell that is “Failure to Launch” is put out of its own misery.

-‘Failure to Launch’ opens in theaters March 10.