Peeples (2013)

If Peeples had more bite, it might pass for an underhanded critique of its producer’s work.

While Peeples follows a very predictable course as a romantic comedy and does not break any ground in that genre of filmmaking, this movie is more engaging than you might expect.

Peeples may appropriate its entire premise and plot structure from “Meet the Parents,” but its heart is suffused with French cinema.

While she doesn't quite achieve the screwball zaniness she strives for, Chism deserves commendation for crafting a farcical work that feels like it concerns real characters.

Director Tina Gordon Chism keeps the innocuous class-meets-crass jokes bubbling, and the actors are amiable, but Peeples often seems to want to turn these characters into benignly goofy role models. Maybe that's why the basic comic collision never explodes.