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'Wanderlust': Funny

anderlust" director David Wain has a gift for finding laughs in oddball subcultures without making fun of them. In "Role Models," you may recall, he managed to make the world of medieval fantasy role-playing seem like great fun, with help from his gifted in-house troupe of improv comedy pros.

anderlust" director David Wain has a gift for finding laughs in oddball subcultures without making fun of them.

In "Role Models," you may recall, he managed to make the world of medieval fantasy role-playing seem like great fun, with help from his gifted in-house troupe of improv comedy pros.

They're all on board for "Wanderlust," an R-rated but cheerful comedy about a couple of Manhattan yuppies (Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston) who end up stranded in a Georgia hippie commune, and find they like it.

George (Rudd) has lost his Wall Street job, dilettante Linda (Aniston) has abandoned her lame career as a documentarian, and neither can stand life with George's McMansion-dwelling reptile of a brother (co-writer Ken Marino).

They find refuge at an "intentional community" where life is agreeably stress-free, and George, especially, is intrigued by the policy of free love, as pitched to him by one of the commune's statuesque blondes (Malin Ackerman).

Even the uptight Linda warms to it, succumbing to the flattering attentions of the charismatic group leader (Justin Theroux). Sorry guys, no nude scene. It's been blurred.

"Wanderlust" is to be enjoyed for its high laugh quotient, for the off-the-wall contributions of Wain's collaborators - Joe Lo Truglio's happy nudist, and Marino as another status-worshipping creep. Michaela Watkins is especially funny as the latter's margarita-medicated wife.

Wain is also getting better at finding a storytelling rhythm and pace to his movies - "Wanderlust" only flags when it asks us to get serious about cracks in the marriage of George and Linda. We care less about their future than where the next laugh is coming from.

Rudd gets his share. He does a "Taxi Driver" riff in front of a mirror, practicing come-ons for his free-sex orgy, proving hilariously maladroit at dirty talk.

Wain strikes a nice balance between this kind of riffing and narrative economy. Most modern laugh-edited comedies tend to overstay their welcome, but "Wanderlust" feels about right.