Mama's Boy (2007)

Poor Jon Heder. Either he won't or he can't get out of the Napoleon Dynamite rut -- playing the nerdy put-upon schlub who eventually finds a bit of his inner mensch. Mama's Boy flags in on either side of average: Same old schtick as School for Scoundrels with a few touches of Napoleon Dynamite (like the squint, the short-lived protest, and the swoop and scurry of shame), except this time, his mother (Diane Keaton at 61, as fluttery a thigh-slapper as in every one of her roles) is the love interest that a grown man (Jeff Daniels at 52, a schmaltzy caricature of a motivational speaker) intends to usurp. Halfway through, I was growling and ready to give Mama's Boy 2.5 stars, because the humor got more predictable than usual and the prevalence of bird-flipping, phallic imagery, and sexual double entendres in addition to pot smoking. The story became somewhat more authentic in the second half, however, and eventually reached a feel-good conclusion. Jon's facial and verbal histrionics are getting old but the soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh and others is an awesome collection of indie rock. I gave Napoleon Dynamite 4 stars for iconic affection and School for Scoundrels 4 stars for physical and negative humor but Mama's Boy seems lucky to have made it with 3 stars.