What becomes problematic is a failure to find in well-known types and situations-the odd-couple protagonists or the love-triangle story-something novel or unexpected, to say nothing of funny. A familiar premise, setting, or even characters, are not problems in themselves.

Comedic scenes like a diving contest gone anticlimactically awry at a hotel pool or a prolonged trip to the festering bathroom of a gas station only emphasize the mundanity and pettiness, because nothing is either piquantly observed or refreshed by pure silliness. More importantly, its writing takes little advantage of the mundane settings and petty revenge ploys to mine original comedy. The film has the low-budget look of many-although, to be fair to the creators on that site, not all-YouTube videos. People are drugged, panic attacks are had, poo is stepped in, hair is pulled, and we do not see nearly enough of Molly Shannon before we arrive at the crux of what appears to be this summer’s morality lesson, according to its female comedies: To reaffirm your friendships, treat your girlfriends as appallingly as they treat you. Louis due to an impending storm, Meg and Kate battle for the prize of well-coiffed Ryan (Matt Barr) in earnest. Once onboard their flight, Kate gets the window seat, Meg snags the aisle, and, lo and behold, between them in the forsaken middle seat there appears a man just as gorgeous as, if not more so than, the two ladies who will spend the next several days competing for his attention.

Meg’s line of skincare products isn’t selling, and the principal at the school where Kate teaches English has just suggested she rethink her career: Her hair always looks great maybe hairdressing is her calling? So Meg, the more impulsive of the two, gets drunk and books them on a beach vacation. Very little in the lives of hot Meg (the model Kate Upton) and overanxious Kate (Alexandra Daddario) is going right. In all, The Layover is a trip better avoided. It’s a middling interpretation of familiar material.

The gags aren’t quite silly enough to make you grin, quite vulgar enough to make you groan in appreciation (a la the recent Girls Trip), or clever enough to make you laugh outright. Because The Layover also includes appearances by Kal Penn and the wonderfully bonkers Molly Shannon, it might seem primed to deliver the laughs, or at least breezily pass the time. Macy, is a very talented actor, and the film’s writers, David Hornsby and Lance Krall, have previously written for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which is a very funny show.

The layover review