The timing was perfect. The moment I sat down to write about the Queenpins, inspired-than-real-events story of a coupon scheme that went awry, a tantalizing coupon popped up on my screen.
It offered a 20 percent discount for a popular brand of socks. I didn’t need socks. But 20 percent? Maybe I needed socks? I suddenly remembered that hapless loss prevention officer Ken, played by a terrifying Paul Walter Hauser, said in the movie why people use coupons: It’s usually not because they need the stuff. This coupon is high when they score a deal.
This alone could have made the germ of a movie: the psychology of discount shopping. But like many themes here, it turns into a confusing, though often overly amusing pastiche of ideas and styles. Writer-directors Aaron Gaudette and Geeta Pulapilli offer a commentary on the value of the work. There is a critique of capitalism, and an interesting friend relationship between two women with very different lives but shared goals.
There’s also the Robin Hood theory that some offenses are justified, especially when you’re helping housewives and hurting the group, so write off the damage anyway. And okay, we can move on. But in this case more is less.
It’s a shame that an outstanding artist could have been better served. In addition to Hauser, we have the charming pairing of Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as coupon offenders. Bell is an expert at using her endlessly perky exterior to hide devious intentions, and for Howell-Baptiste, somehow she makes us root for her, whether it’s to negotiate a gun sale to a potential right-wing militia. What are you doing?
Connie (Bell) is a frustrated housewife in a loveless marriage with a dry IRS auditor (Joel McHale in a largely thankless role). Failed fertility treatments have put the couple in debt. In some particularly trivial dialogue, Connie refers to her miscarriage as a failure to reach the finish line.
There is one thing, however, that gives Connie satisfaction: coupons. At the supermarket, she presented with a bill for $138.55, but triumphantly handed over a bunch of discounts to get $16.45. He was impressive, notes the man behind him.
One day Connie eats some stale wheat and decides to complain to the company. She is thrilled to have a coupon for a free box. And she wonders: What if she had an endless supply of such coupons and could sell them for a profit? She enlists neighbor JoJo (Howell-Baptiste), who understands from the start that this might be a crime?
The two learn that the coupons were printed at a factory in Mexico. All they need is an insider. They find a worker who makes only $2 per hour and is happy to oblige.
They rack up millions within months. Under the assumption that they need to launder money, they buy a bunch of stuff Lamborghini, to sell a boat and clean it. Here’s a comment on loose gun laws when they hit a gun show and buy a stash. It probably shouldn’t have been that easy, JoJo says.
In any case, the women go on on their adventures, with no idea that Ken (Hauser), a low-level employee determined to do her job well, is on her way.
Ken is, in many ways, a jerk. He won’t let a poor old lady leave when she inadvertently presents an invalid coupon for hemorrhoid cream. Told that he is a longtime valued customer, Kane replies that he doesn’t care whether she is Dame Judi Dench or not.
What is shocking, however, is how that clever line is in the form of a tasteless, lengthy scene in the same film where Kane soils himself during a bet, among other references to the toilet. Did it suddenly become a slapstick comedy for teenage boys?
But Kane perseveres, joined in a chase by a gun-toting postal inspector (Vince Vaughn, in the role of a tailor), who reins in ruthless Postal Service references.
Like the inspector, everyone here feels they should be given a better price. I knew I deserved more, says Connie at a crucial moment. This alone would have been a great organizing theme. Instead, we get a kitchen sink full of coupons.
The STX Entertainment release Queenpins has been given an R rating for language by the Motion Picture Association of America. Running time: 110 mins. Two out of four stars.
MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian under the age of 17.
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