All things considered, the circumstances could have been worse for Meghan Miles. The fictional newscaster goes through a lot in “Walk of Shame” as she engages with gang members and police officers alike, but at least she’s not watching herself from the comfort of the local cinema.
If she were, she’d discover how unreasonably executed her actions are, and that her life perfectly fits the qualifications for a bad young adult comedy film. Unfortunately, that’s the realization we have to make for her, as “Walk of Shame” follows a plot as silly as one would expect from Steven Brill, the director of such similarly forgettable films as “Drillbit Taylor” and “Little Nicky.”
Elizabeth Banks takes the role of Meghan on what starts as the luckiest day of the TV personality’s life. But after seemingly losing a job opportunity as a national news anchor, Meghan decides to take a night off from her responsibilities and proceeds to go home with a good-looking one night stand target, Gordon (James Marsden). She wakes up in the early morning to a blessing of sorts: After a series of complications, she will now be offered the big job when the network’s representatives attend her newscast later that day.
Leaving Gordon’s house in a nervous rush, Meghan ventures out on her own in downtown Los Angeles, entirely lost and without her ID, wallet or car. Because of her club-like attire, the trip is made more troublesome than she could possibly have imagined as she is mistaken by gang members and the police as a wandering prostitute.
Meghan’s antics can be effectively described as an hour-and-a-half-long display of Elizabeth Banks doing things that Elizabeth Banks would never do. On one hand, that’s the definition of good acting: Banks has never had much opportunity to showcase her talents in a leading role. In most movies where she has, such as “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” on the comedic side and “W.” on the dramatic side, she is quickly overshadowed by a bigger name actor.
“Walk of Shame” finally gives her time to shine, a true Banks vehicle if there ever was one. She proves to be effortlessly charming in the strangest situations, with quirky expressions and likeable dialogue, which erases some of the problems associated with her hopelessly unintelligent character. Few questioned Banks’ talents in the past, but at least “Walk of Shame” gives a muddled glimpse into a world where she could be an A-list star if someone took note.
Meghan, on the other hand, is too much of a lost cause for Banks’ talents to matter. Only an unrelatable character of impressive magnitude would argue with officers in the middle of a troubling neighborhood about petty details rather than clarify the bigger picture that she is a tragically lost celebrity. The viewer disconnect is so large that it’s hard to care for Meghan’s circumstances in the slightest, leaving “Walk of Shame” a lackluster ride through the streets rather than a fun trip through Los Angeles.
The film’s subplot has about the same level of insignificance: Meghan’s friends Rose (Gillian Jacobs) and Denise (Sarah Wright Olsen), discover that they lost Meghan after the previous night’s activities and devote themselves to tracking her and Gordon down themselves. It is a plot piece as predictable as it sounds – none of the supporting characters really matter to Brill’s telling of the story, but he sticks them in anyway.
To get from point A to point B, “Walk of Shame” takes a very long route. Overexaggerated and exasperating, Meghan often complicates the simplicity of the movie’s storyline with her ditsy actions. But at least Banks is prevalently displayed and able to bask in the prominence of Hollywood stardom until her better-than-average work is inevitably forgotten by the general public. Give it about two weeks.