Story aside, the two stars make their characters more appealing than you might initially think. Among the large supporting cast, Zooey Deschanel scores the biggest laughs as Paula's cute-loopy roommate, who would love to kill the mockingbird that resides outside her bedroom window and won't stop chirping. In any case, the film is surprisingly well cast. Bates is in fine comic mode, although we wind up seeing a tad too much of Bradshaw (he longs for a "naked room" where he can let his pigskin hang out), is goofy and affectionate and does a lot of mugging - in other words, he's playing himself.

Blessed with some crowd-pleasing elements, the movie brings to mind the tamer parts of "Wedding Crashers," which is a quiet complement. Of all the characters, Parker's roommate and her comic mockingbird troubles and Tripp’s wacky parents offer more than enough reasons to succumb to the DVD’s easy charm. Indeed, we have lift-off!