REVIEW: We're the Millers

3/10 - How come it's so hard to make Jason Sudeikis famous?

This movie sucks.

There is nothing about this that's funny, original, vaguely interesting or memorable. I'm having a hard time coming up with adequate words to explain how bad this is, and yet it has been a box office smash. I am deeply concerned for the state of comedy when regurgitated garbage is a runaway success.

Plot Summary: these four people are all shady, and of poor circumstances, and have to pretend to be upper middle class suburbanites, for pretty contrived reasons. Here's where this plot fails, it relies on the comedy being about exaggerated stereotypes (as seen in the one-word descriptors on the poster) and yet none of them come close to portraying that stereotype.

Jason Sudeikis plays the cleanest, most organized drug dealer you have ever seen. His character is deeply unbalanced, as he tries to maintain likability but also portray a scumbag. The "Jim from The Office" charm of looking into the camera to be cute doesn't work when his inconsistent role flutters between cool guy, asshole, and dad. I get that this role is meant to be a vehicle to launch Sudeikis, but his character seems to have facts instead of characteristics. There are things that we are told about his character, but that doesn't mean he has to continuously portray them as an actor. They are simply facts.

Equally as ambivalent is Jennifer Aniston, who plays a stripper. She never gets naked, just putting that out there. As a stripper, you would think that she too should be at a low point in her life, maybe she's also a drug addict, or can't feed her baby, I don't know you can choose your own stripper cliche. Fortunately she seems to act like stripping is in the same ballpark as being a secretary, or in sales at Best Buy. To be blunt, she's a prude even at her most sexually charged, and isn't that just a little pathetic?

As for the kids, one is a runaway or homeless or something unexplained, and the other is a kid living in the building who looks up to Sudeikis like a role model. Regardless of where they come from or what the situation is, these kids were essentially kidnapped and brought across an international boarder. Didn't that seem like a red flag to anyone?

My biggest criticism is that it's flat out lazy. This is a movie that wants to be raunchy and crazy, but comes across as being out of touch, and unoriginal. It's predictable in the worst kind of way, with every recycled trope of the genre being featured at some point. Since it's about drugs, they accidentally befriend a DEA agent. Since they drive an RV, it breaks down at some point. Cursing is often a punchline, and that's never enough to carry a film. Don't get me wrong, I like a raunchy comedy, but this is tame enough to bring my parents, and grandparents. It's dated material, and the jokes don't add any substance to the movie, they're just there to kill 90 minutes.

This is a superficial movie. It has a story that could have real potential, Breaking Bad has certainly shown audiences that drug culture doesn't have to remain a stereotype. Characters are so shallow that despite all of them coming from an impoverished situation, it's never once discussed. Worst of all, no one ever smokes the drugs. What a shame.

Don't waste your time on this unless you think a few dick jokes and a shot of some ballsack is worth your hard earned money.

IMDB - We're the Millers (7.2)
Wikipedia - We're the Millers
Rotten Tomatoes - We're the Millers (47%)
Amazon.ca - We're the Millers

REVIEW: The World's End

8/10 - Well it was a lot of fun, wasn't it?

Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg bring another fun adventure movie that's sort of, but not quite like, the other movies they've done. 

Just like the other movies in this alleged "trilogy" (a status I don't feel should automatically imply a level of quality) The World's End stars Shaun, I mean Gary, who is an every-man facing unconquerable alienation, this time with aliens. As in the previous two movies (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) where everyone else became a zombie, and everyone else became a murderer, in The World's End everyone else becomes some sort of robot alien thing. As with the other two movies, the social outcast Shaun/Nicholas/Gary/Simon must harness the power of friendship to fight against the literal social pressure and save the day. 

The World's End was good. Comparatively it is much more matured then their previous efforts. I worried that this movie would become repetitive and boring when at the launch their goal is to visit twelve pubs, something that doesn't lead to fascinating new adventures. Most of the comedy felt fresh, and the action never became monotonous. It was exciting and engaging, with a unique story that still felt grounded in character. There were in-jokes to let the audience feel smart, and the pacing allowed a huge number of events to occur without the stretched out feeling that Hot Fuzz had. It was unpredictable, not random, and just a lot of fun.

I wish there had been more women in this movie. I don't know how else to say this when I repeat it at almost every movie review. I don't know why it's such a complicated task. Perhaps when you take a boy's club like Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost, they want to reflect what they know, and what they know is their own friendships. Almost every character was married, and had major relationships with women in their lives, yet there were no women with significant roles. None of them were full characters and only one appeared on screen. Honestly, why is this considered acceptable? 

I thought the ending was a bit off. It was fine, just clunky and obvious. I wanted the subtext to be sprinkled throughout, but there were large chunks of the movie where the character's growing stories were forgotten in lieu of action sequences, and in order to make up for that there were long explanatory passages that were being shared like it was an instruction manual. In fact, the movie opens and closes with an unmemorable history lesson. Granted, these are subjective kind of issues that took me out of the movie, but maybe wouldn't bother everyone. It just all feels jarring and abnormal for some, otherwise great, storytellers. The major problem that may have snowballed was the antagonist. They are passive and have no motivation. When you don't have a force that can outsmart or out fight the protagonist, these problems happen. 

Having said all that, The World's End really did meet my expectations. Maybe it didn't surpass them, but that's okay because it was still great. It's worth seeing several times, because without questions there are details that are meant to be picked up on during your second or third watch. It's fun and original, and will be a nice addition to the blu-ray collection. Give them your money, they need it for beer. 

IMDB - The World's End (7.7)

Wikipedia - The World's End

Rotten Tomatoes - The World's End (90%)
Amazon.ca - The World's End

Suggestions?

I haven't posted any new reviews in the last week, and I have none in the works. Basically I've run out of movies.

I'd love to hear some suggestions, new or old, because I'm always looking for new stuff to talk about.

HIT ME UP