We're the Millers

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

Jason Sudeikis

Jennifer Aniston

Emma Roberts

Will Poulter

Ed Helms

Nick Offerman

Kathryn Hahn

Molly C. Quinn

Tomer Sisley

Luis Guzman

Thomas Lennon

David (Sudeikis) is the local weed man in the Denver community where he lives. Yeah, I know. Circumstances dictate that he desperately needs to repay a debt to his supplier Brad (Helms). Brad tells him all will be forgiven if he goes down to Mexico and brings back "a smidge, smidge and a half" of weed. David hatches a plan to pose as a family hoping that he won't get harassed by Border Patrol that way. Since he doesn't have a family of his own, he has to recruit one. He gets troubled, but very different teens Kenny (Poulter) and Casey (Roberts) to play his kids. To complete the picture he gets Rose (Aniston), the stripper who lives across the hall and is facing eviction, to play his wife. And away we go.

Early on, We're the Millers does what it sets out to do. It makes us laugh. While Sudeikis is getting in lots of great lines, much of the humor comes from Kenny's naivete. Jennifer Aniston continues to poke fun at herself for, of all things, being her age and still looking great (see most of her movies in the last decade). The situations are appropriately zany, giving us the giggles on that front. Finally, Ed Helms is a riot. It all adds up to the first two thirds being fast and fun.

As it must in all movies, the third act eventually comes. When it does, things take a turn for the mundane. It's not really all that bad, just generic. In place of all the sizzle of the earlier parts, we get a steady descent into sentimentality. The filmmakers seem hell bent on making the ending as cute as possible. It comes off as them taking the easy way out. To do this, all of the loose ends are tied too neatly. This leads to predictability. In fact, nothing unexpected happens as the movie rushes toward its climax. Action picks up and the laughs mostly subside. Action and happy endings aren't inherently good or bad, but in the context of We're the Millers they're the expected and, therefore, less satisfying outcome.

Being pretty good for two thirds of the run time, however is a fate that befalls many a comedy. In trying to solve their conflicts, the last third is often filled with shootouts, explosions, and getting everyone happy. This is no different. In fact, it follows that pattern to a tee. Thankfully, WtM successfully humors us early, making it easy to forgive its flaws. It's still not enough to make us completely overlook them. If you don't laugh early, then forget it because it's not getting any better. For those of us that do, even if we have a number of deep belly laughs, we can't help but think it could've been much better.

MY SCORE: 6.5/10

Drinking Buddies

Directed by Joe Swanberg.

2013. Rated R, 90 minutes.

Cast:

Olivia Wilde

Jake Johnson

Anna Kendrick

Ron Livingston

Jason Sudeikis

Ti West

Kate (Wilde) and Luke (Johnson) work at the local brewery. After a long, but usually fun day at work, they tend to head down to the nearest bar with a number of their other co-workers and drink lots of their own product. It is painfully obvious the two have a thing for each other. The issue here is two-fold: 1) Each is involved in a serious relationship with someone else, and 2) Neither of them will own up to how they feel about the other. Instead, they flirt endlessly. They do it that way people do when they have a really strong connection. Of course, they think it is mere friendship. So Kate thinks it's no big deal to invite Luke and his girlfriend Jill (Kendrick) up to her boyfriend Chris' (Livingston) beach house for the weekend. They accept. Life rolls on from there.

When I say 'life rolls on,' that's probably the best compliment I can give this movie. It's a true slice-of-life flick in every sense of the term. There really is no plot. Everything about our leads are just the facts of who they are, not set ups for some grand character arc. Finally, Drinking Buddies doesn't end so much as it just stops. When it does, I wouldn't blame anyone who throws their arms up and says "WTF!" when the final credits roll. I suspect that's what's behind the disparity between how critics view this movie and how normal folks see it. Critics have praised it while audiences are rather lukewarm toward it. The things it doesn't have are the things we've been trained to expect from our films. Without those things we're left with a feeling of uncertainty about what we just watched. A movie lacking a definitive beginning, middle, and end might not immediately make sense to us.

Enjoying DB requires a willingness to take it on its own terms and, perhaps, actually thinking about it afterwards. That's because we may have to sort some things out. It does what I often knock other movies for not doing. It shows, not tells. Counter intuitive to that sentiment, this movie is much more noun than verb. It is something that is, not something that does. We're used to our visual media "doing" for us. It sticks around until the bad guy is caught and the hero gets the girl. Little to no effort is required of us. Therefore, most of us don't have the energy for a movie with a figurative test at the end. I like this movie. That's not to say I'm smarter than people who don't. I'm just more willing to put in the work necessary to appreciate it.

I feel like I've rambled quite a bit without saying much about the actual film. There really are reasons to enjoy it as it goes along. Right away, it positions itself as a dramedy. It makes us laugh, but that's not necessarily it's aim. It's more about exploring the relationship between Kate and Luke. Whatever drama or humor that comes out of this is organic to the human experience, not gags or overly contrived melodrama. To their credit, our stars are an immense help in this area. Both Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson deliver completely natural performances. Wilde is particularly good. Her best acting is done by her eyes during pauses in dialogue. When she speaks, she feels like a woman we might know. The same is true for Johnson. Well, he sounds like a man we might know, not a woman. You understand. Through the two of them, we sense these are people who are aware of their feelings, but struggling mightily not to act upon them. Immediately, we start wondering "will they," or "won't they." This uncertainty drives the movie. Our curiosity happily rides along on this train. I like where it drops us off. I'm not sure you will.

Epic

Directed by Chris Wedge.

2013. Rated PG, 102 minutes.

Cast:

Amanda Seyfried

Josh Hutcherson

Colin Farrell

Christoph Waltz

Beyonce Knowles

Aziz Ansari

Chris O'Dowd

Pitbull

Jason Sudeikis

Steven Tyler

Blake Anderson

Jim Conroy

John DiMaggio

For the first time in quite a while, Mary Katherine (Seyfried), MK for short, visits her father Professor Bomba (Sudeikis). Her mom has passed away so she understandably wants to spend some time bonding with dad. Unfortunately, dad is totally pre-occupied with his work. For years, he's been trying to prove the existence of an advanced civilization of tiny people located somewhere in the forest around his house. He believes them to be the engine of the ecosystem. He is actually right. We know this because we meet Ronin (Farrell) and his misguided ward Nod (Hutcherson), two Leaf Men, or soldiers, tasked with defending Queen Tara from their rivals, the evil Boggins. Today is when she must choose the pod that will continue to make things grow in the event of her death. The Boggins are after her because they want nothing more than rot and decay. Of course, MK thinks her father nuts. Tired of him neglecting her, she storms out into the woods and bada-boom, bada-bing, she is shrank down to about two inches tall and finds herself in the middle of the war in the forest.

Much of our focus is on the adventure to save the chosen pod, as well as the fish out of water aspects of the tale. Both bring a nice balance of action and comedy that keeps things moving along nicely. Though the jokes are on the obvious side, they work well enough. The action fares better. It is certainly close to what we think of when we hear the word swashbuckling. Just imagine what action scenes in Robin Hood might look like if we replaced horses with birds. There are also some very cool visuals employed during this. the scene where a bunch of bad guys come bursting from beneath the bark of a tree is an amazing sight. Visually, as a whole, the movie works quite well. Lots of flowers and other things you would find in the forest are rendered as somewhat humanoid beings. The scenery is occasionally a bit off as it appears the animators weren't always sure what should look photo-realistic and what should not. Still, it's definitely not enough to be a problem.

Less successfully handled are the emotional aspect of things. The relationship between MK and her dad works okay, but nothing happens that even the kids won't see coming. The same goes for the love story between MK and Nod. It hits every note precisely when we expect it to. More disappointing than either of those story lines is that the movie makes a big deal early on that MK's mom has died and so has Nod's dad yet does nothing with these facts. It approaches them as if there is some exploration of the matter about to take place. Instead, it's merely a ploy to give our lovebirds something in common. Again, none of these are major demerits. They are small dings in the armor that younger viewers will likely ignore, but start to pile up on us old folks.

What the youngsters won't ignore is all the hero/villain stuff. At this, Epic succeeds. The message of it is all a bit heavy-handed, but easy to root for. A lush, green forest is full of life while a gray and brown one is not. They will also like the lovably goofy Nod. Juxtaposed with him is the straight-laced Ronin. More than liking him, he's the one character we actually feel for. We understand he's got just a little bigger stake in the game than the rest. His nemesis Mandrake (Waltz) makes for a pretty good villain. He's properly dark and menacing and seems genuinely prepared to take over the world. The voicing of him by Waltz is very effective in getting this point across. Still, it's the good vs. evil angle that will carry the day for many of the kids watching. With a fairly sizable element of revenge factoring in on both sides we feel how personal things have become without anyone ever saying this explicitly. The other things fill out the movie and are solid enough to stand up and keep things enjoyable. I found it very entertaining and well done.

MY SCORE: 7/10

The Campaign

Directed by Jay Roach.

2012. Rated R, 85 minutes.

Cast:

Will Ferrell

Zach Galifinakis

Jason Sudeikis

Dylan McDermott

Sarah Baker

Katherine LaNasa

Dan Aykroyd

John Lithgow

Brian Cox

Karen Maruyama
Thomas Middleditch

Cam Brady (Ferrell) is so popular he is about to be elected to his fifth term as Congressman for the 14^th district in North Carolina. Until he places an errant and sexually explicit phone call, that is. Sensing the end of Brady’s career, the billionaire Motch brothers (Aykroyd and Lithgow) set up the naïve Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) as a puppet candidate to run against him. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

If you’re looking for a razor sharp political satire, look elsewhere. What we have here is the political process taken to its most absurd extremes. That the two candidates play dirty goes without saying. The depths to which they sink are the things we imagine possible if the people who ran for office were allowed to really engage in a no-holds barred campaign. For instance, the commercials they put together go far beyond the limits of good taste. This isn't to say there are no merits to this approach to the material. Even through the zaniness we can catch glimpses of the situations that obviously inspired the movie. And perhaps it is stinging commentary that there is absolutely no difference in how the two parties are portrayed.

Your political leanings aside, what will really inform whether or not you like this film is how you feel about its stars. After all, they’re both on full blast right from the start. Cam Brady is nothing short of former Senator John Edwards crossed with Ferrell’s Ricky Bobby. Huggins is a true Galifianakis creation: an odd, naïve man who really wants to do the right thing but often has trouble pulling off the trick. To be sure, both men have their moments. That said, you already know if you find either, neither or both of them funny.

MY SCORE: 6/10

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Directed by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck.

2011. Rated R, 95 minutes.

Cast:

Jason Sudeikis

Tyler Labine

Leslie Bibb

Lake Bell

Michelle Borth

Nik Kroll

Angela Sarafyan

Don Johnson

Lindsay Sloane

Martin Starr

Rhys Coiro

Will Forte

David Koechner

Dee Dee Rescher

Eric (Sudeikis) is the de facto leader of a group of guys and girls who live together, during the summer at least, at a house his father owns. They have been close friends since high school. Occasionally, they throw hugely popular theme parties. In fact, we meet them during the “White Trash Bash.” The next day, daddy (a cameo by Don Johnson) shows up with his way younger girlfriend and informs his very grown boy that he’s putting the house on the market. His realtors are pushing hard to have the house sold very shortly, making the upcoming Labor Day the gang’s last chance to have a party like no other.

Thankfully, this isn’t a dance flick or a kiddie movie. Therefore, there is no mad dash by our heroes to raise enough money to save the place. Instead, they’re resigned to their fate and merely want to come up with a theme for the final blowout. Eventually, Eric and his sidekick Mike (Labine) decide it best to not invite any outsiders to their last shindig but still go out with a bang, quite literally. They want to have an orgy with their housemates. As you might imagine, this is a hard sell to people who’ve never engaged in such activities. Even if they agree to it, going through with it is something else entirely.

Despite a good deal of raunchy dialogue and situations, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy is only funny in a few spots. Only the no holds barred scene inside real life mattress store Fred’s Beds stands out as true comic gold. That’s in the unrated version, of course. I don’t know how much of what I saw made it into the theatrical version. Most of the rest of the humor is of ho-hum caliber. Still, it’s got an odd sweetness to it. I know it’s hard to imagine a movie about group sex having such a quality, but it is there. It’s not that we’re enthralled by any of the characters, but we do sorta like these folks. The director helps out by handling things about as delicately as possible while trying to live up to the title.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of flaws. These people we sorta like really are just types rather than rounded characters. This includes Tyler Labine doing his best Jack Black impersonation. The sidebar of a love story between Mike and Kelly (Bibb), the younger realtor, feels extraneous in its execution and rushed in its resolution. Ditto for the plotline involving the house itself. With all the pros and cons balancing it out, AGOFO manages to tread water. Occasionally, it musters enough strength to do a little better than that.

Horrible Bosses

Directed by Seth Gordon.

2011. Rated R, 98 minutes.
Cast:
Jason Bateman
Jason Sudeikis
Charlie Day
Kevin Spacey
Jennifer Aniston
Colin Farrell
Jamie Foxx
P. J. Byrne
Donald Sutherland

Nick (Bateman), Kurt (Sudeikis), and Dale (Day) are three working stiffs and bestest buddies. Even though they work three separate jobs, each of them hates their boss. After a drunken night of hypotheticals they hatch the idea to kill their overbearing employers. They decide against it when sobriety kicks in. Of course, each then has the one experience that pushes them over the edge. Understandably, the plan is on. Now they just have to figure out how to pull off three murders without getting caught.

Our would-be killers are all solid characters. They take turns bringing the funny. Kurt is the most consistent of the three. He strikes a nice balance between the hyperactive Dale and the somewhat bland Nick. Each actor performs solidly in their roles. Because of them, we like these guys despite watching them in the midst of plotting some heinous acts. It helps that they’re not so savvy criminals. We know when they’re getting scammed. We see them make dumb mistakes.

However, the real strength of this film is in the casting of the bosses. Colin Farrell’s sweaty, balding, kung fu obsessed cokehead is priceless. Kevin Spacey gives us a smug, arrogant jerk like only he can. Yes, they’re both over the top but that’s what is needed to ensure our hatred of them. It also makes us laugh at them. They represent a case of the ridiculous actually working.

As good as Farrell and Spacey are, neither holds a candle to the Hitchcock inspired choice for the movie’s lone female boss. Let me explain. For most of Jimmy Stewart’s career he was as clean cut and wholesome as they come. His everyman looks and “gee willikers” demeanor made him feel like a slice of apple pie brought to life. He was the walking embodiment of Americana. Then came Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Vertigo. Stewart is decidedly against type in both, a sexual deviant. Essentially, he’s a peeping tom in the former and a stalker in the latter. In HB, the corrupted All-American is Jennifer Aniston, the ultimate girl next door. Although she’s been oft criticized for being vanilla, there have been scenes in other movie’s where she’s acted provocatively. Here, that’s her entire role. More than provocative, she’s downright trashy. She says lots of things you might only hear in videos on those websites you’re not supposed to visit at work. She nails every nasty line. For my money, it’s 2011’s best female comedic performance (yes, I saw Bridesmaids). The legion of men who already drool over her will either be thrown into overdrive or completely turned off by her walk on the dark side.

Aniston’s new-found sluttiness aside, the movie sinks or swims with its premise. It’s a solid one. The plot surrounding it unfolds well enough with a nice twist, here and there. When the bosses aren’t on the screen, the jokes are hit-and-miss, so it’s not a comic masterpiece. It is fun, has some real laugh-out-loud moments and some terrific work by its cast.

MY SCORE: 7/10

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