Comedy films have been having tough time to really impress me lately. A good comedy film is the one that knows how to balance worthy scenes and memorable punch-lines to offset the absurdity of the premise. Unfortunately, none of this year's offerings like “Identity Thief”, “The Hangover III” and “The Heat” are pointing towards that direction. I have not watched “This Is the End” and “At World's End” yet, so I cannot say if 2013 will be another disappointing year for comedy yet. But one does stand out – “We're The Millers”, a typical late summer raunchy comedy which also teams up “Horrible Bosses” alums Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. Thought it will be unlikely that this movie sets a new bar of standard for the genre, it is still a comedy that worth your penny and time.
Imagine this movie as a cross-over of the plot of Robin William's “RV”, the subject matter of Mark Wahlberg's “Contraband” and Arnie's “The Last Stand”; but nothing too serious here. The mix of the cross-over is still resulting in an indefinitely basic plot about a local marijuana dealer who goes international when his boss forces him to earn extra cash to pay off his debt. After been forced by his boss Brad Gurdingler (Ed Helms) to smuggle marijuana across the border from the Mexican drug cartel, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) comes out with a brilliant plan to cross the border with the contraband without raising red flags. In order for his plan to work, he hires his stripper neighbour Rose (Jennifer Aniston), the still virgin 18-year old neighbour Kenny (Will Poulter) and homeless-runaway teenager Casey (Emma Roberts) to form a bogus family called The Millers. During the dangerous journey, the "family" meets the Fitzgeralds, a weird family who turns out to be not who they appear as.
There is not so much originality in this movie though as the premise moulds so closely with “RV”. If you think it is about a "family" spending time together on a RV for an excusable unplanned road trip to a middle of nowhere while also meeting up a weird family in the process, ends up arguing and making peace at the end; well you guess the story correct already. Sure, we will go around and make some fun about how formulaic and cliché this comedy is. But this is genuinely the funniest comedy I have watched this year. The plot is well-written by none other than the peoples who wrote Wedding Crashers (Bob Fischer and Steve Faber) and Hot Tub Time Machine (Sean Anders and John Morris) which brings in a rather ingenious story device coupled with slick serviceable slapsticks that practically make this movie relatively different from other drug-related and road trip movies.
Like I have said before, a good comedy requires only worthy funny scenes and hilarious dialogues to go along, something that this movie knows how to work on those corners brilliantly. To add in the trustworthy, the characters or simply “the family” we seen in this movie are pretty high for most of the time. In many ways, they are charming, disgusting and hilarious. But I enjoyed more of their dynamic performances on-screen despite been a one-sheet character notes. It is fun to see even a bogus family can actually work it out like one.
In the end, “We’re the Millers” is not a comedy that revolutionizes the genre but it is good enough that they know how to make fun and laughter by using even the most simplistic and formulaic plot elements to go with. But it benefits from the characters we do love, feels funny on a consistent basis while also providing subtle crude humours when it needs to.
If you are unsure about We're the Millers, watch the full length trailer here and get the early picture:
Genre: Comedy
Classification: 18
Release Date: 29 August 2013
Running Time: 110 minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures (New Line Cinemas)
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Screenplay: Bob Fischer, Steve Faber, Sean Anders and John Morris
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter
Plot: David Burke (Jason Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids-after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks. Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). In order to wipe the slate clean-and maintain a clean bill of health-David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad's latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), and the tatted-and-pierced streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the "Millers" are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.
Classification: 18
Release Date: 29 August 2013
Running Time: 110 minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures (New Line Cinemas)
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Screenplay: Bob Fischer, Steve Faber, Sean Anders and John Morris
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter
Plot: David Burke (Jason Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids-after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks. Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). In order to wipe the slate clean-and maintain a clean bill of health-David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad's latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), and the tatted-and-pierced streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the "Millers" are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.
There is not so much originality in this movie though as the premise moulds so closely with “RV”. If you think it is about a "family" spending time together on a RV for an excusable unplanned road trip to a middle of nowhere while also meeting up a weird family in the process, ends up arguing and making peace at the end; well you guess the story correct already. Sure, we will go around and make some fun about how formulaic and cliché this comedy is. But this is genuinely the funniest comedy I have watched this year. The plot is well-written by none other than the peoples who wrote Wedding Crashers (Bob Fischer and Steve Faber) and Hot Tub Time Machine (Sean Anders and John Morris) which brings in a rather ingenious story device coupled with slick serviceable slapsticks that practically make this movie relatively different from other drug-related and road trip movies.
Like I have said before, a good comedy requires only worthy funny scenes and hilarious dialogues to go along, something that this movie knows how to work on those corners brilliantly. To add in the trustworthy, the characters or simply “the family” we seen in this movie are pretty high for most of the time. In many ways, they are charming, disgusting and hilarious. But I enjoyed more of their dynamic performances on-screen despite been a one-sheet character notes. It is fun to see even a bogus family can actually work it out like one.
In the end, “We’re the Millers” is not a comedy that revolutionizes the genre but it is good enough that they know how to make fun and laughter by using even the most simplistic and formulaic plot elements to go with. But it benefits from the characters we do love, feels funny on a consistent basis while also providing subtle crude humours when it needs to.
If you are unsure about We're the Millers, watch the full length trailer here and get the early picture:
MY RATING:
Story: 3.5
Casts: 4.5
Cinematography: 3.5
Effects: 3.5
GREEN-TEA-O-METER: 15.4/20.0
