Matthew McConaughey’s Poorly-Reviewed Comedy Becomes Netflix Global Hit 18 Years Later

Matthew McConaughey’s poorly-reviewed romantic comedy, Failure to Launch, has become a global hit on Netflix. Released in 2006, the romantic comedy follows a 35-year-old man living with his parents who hire an interventionist to help motivate him to move out of the house. Other than McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker in the two lead roles, the cast also includes Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, and Oscar-winner Kathy Bates.

Now, nearly two decades after its original release, McConaughey’s poorly-reviewed romantic comedy is now a global Netflix hit. Failure to Launch ranked seventh on Netflix’s Global Top 10 for the week of July 29-August 4 with 4.8 million views and 7.8 million hours viewed. In the bottom half, it ranked below Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and above The Bad Guys, Ghostbuters: Frozen Empire, and The Marksman.

Failure To Launch Represents A Drastically Different Time In Matthew McConaughey’s Career

He Was Known For Formulaic Romantic Comedies

During the 1990s, McConaughey broke through with a brief but memorable role in Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused, and went on to find success as a leading man with the legal drama A Time to Kill, the sci-fi film Contact, and Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Amistad. More recently, during the 2010s, McConaughey won an Academy Award for his performance in the biopic Dallas Buyers Club and was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in True Detective season 1.

However, during the decade in between, the 2000s, McConaughey became known for romantic comedies, also including The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Fool’s Gold, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Released in 2006, Failure to Launch is representative of the type of formulaic romantic comedy that McConaughey starred in during this phase of his career. It was poorly reviewed by critics, (23% on Rotten Tomatoes), but did manage to make a decent impact at the box office, grossing over $130 million.

In fact, every one of McConaughey’s aforementioned romantic comedies from the 2000s was poorly reviewed. However, each of them made over $100 million at the box office, save for The Wedding Planner which came close with $94.7 million. This is almost unimaginable today, as theatrical romantic comedies are rarely made, let alone make over $100 million. However, there has been a recent resurgence with titles like Ticket to Paradise and Anyone But You. With Failure to Launch becoming a Netflix hit, audiences are seemingly interested in revisiting this drastically different period of McConaughey’s career, and the film industry at large.

Source: Netflix

Failure to Launch (2006)

Failure to Launch is a romantic comedy directed by Tom Dey, featuring Matthew McConaughey as Tripp, a 35-year-old man living with his parents. Concerned with their son’s lack of independence, his parents hire Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), a professional interventionist, to coax him out of their home. The film explores themes of adulthood, independence, and the complications of modern relationships.

Director

Tom Dey

Release Date

March 10, 2006

Studio(s)

Scott Rudin Productions

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Writers

Tom J. Astle
, Matt Ember

Runtime

97 Minutes

Budget

$50 Million

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