Taking the “if you can make here” lyrics to heart, Jeff and Sam Jasinski packed up the U-Haul and move to Manhattan. However, they quickly discover how competitive private kindergarten admissions truly are. Evidently, the time to start applying is around the third trimester. Sue Lemon can help. The slightly manic consultant specializes in pulling strings for parents willing to pay and she happens to know of an opening Coventry Day.
Unfortunately, the snobby headmistress Katherine Heilmann is having none of the Jasinskis, forcing them to appeal directly to the board. Ostensibly chaired by the “PC Guy,” the real power on the board are “The Player” and his politician wife, who would be ridiculous Republican caricatures if they were not so much more fun than everyone else in the film.
Indeed, Mr. and Mrs. Player bandy about some deliciously cutting lines, frankly outdoing the outrageousness of Amy Sedaris’ Lemon. Maybe viewers are supposed to despise them, but they certainly liven things up around the joint. Shelov and co-writer Michael Jaeger also create some slightly naughty but appropriately manic situations, largely revolving around the Jeff Jasinski’s masquerade as an explicit hipster poet.
Neil Patrick Harris shows effective restraint, largely playing Jasinski straight. Bonnie Somerville gets a bit tiresome as the somewhat tigerish mom, but Sedaris’ eccentric energy helps compensate. Still, Christopher McDonald and Kate Mulgrew steal all their scenes outright as the Republican power couple (in real life, best of luck finding their likes on the Upper Eastside). Conversely, chicken-legged Peter Serafinowicz is rather flat and underwhelming as the Jasinskis’ rich ne’er do well friend, Clark. Hardcore geeks should take note though, in addition to Voyager’s Mulgrew, Bridget Regan from Legend of the Seeker also appears as Robin, Jeff Jasinski’s unstable ex.
