"We're the Millers" - directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
I had high hopes for this movie.
A lot was desperation based on the poor hit ratio of comedies these days.
Having Jennifer Aniston in a comedy is certainly not an assurance of quality.
I love Aniston who is a genuine talent in both comedy and dramatic roles - refer to the great "Office Space", her best performance in "The Good Girl" and the underrated gem that is "Management".
But although she is always good the movies she stars in often are not exactly incredible.
The same could be said for her "Horrible Bosses" co-star Jason Sudeikis.
With "We're the Millers" the pair are once again starring in a concept comedy playing characters not a million miles from the sort that they are most often identified with.
So, a recipe for yet more mediocrity then?
Actually no.
This film is a fine example of what good casting combined with smart direction and a consistently, genuinly funny script can result in.
I liked "We're the Millers" a lot.
Now I am freely admitting to having consumed three or four Tiger beers at the fabulous The Merchant Bar & Kitchen and a couple of Gold Class Cinema cocktails before hand but that was over a three hour period and should in no major way be considered a factor in my enjoyment of this movie.
It just kept me laughing for all of its duration- without an alcoholic crutch.
The set up is pretty simple.
David (Sudeikis) is a low rent weed peddler who loses his bosses money after getting involved in the misfortunes of a homeless girl and a nerdy neighbour against his better judgment.
To make up for the loss his boss (an off the charts weird Ed Helms in fine form) makes him go to Mexico to pick up 'a smidge of weed'.
In this instance a 'smidge' translates to a metric crap tonne.
Recognising that this is no easy feat he comes up with a plan.
He will put together a fake family in the belief that an all American, white picket fence looking famiy will arouse less suspicion at the border check.
So he pays down on her luck stripper Rose (Aniston) to be the wife and recruits the homeless girl (Roberts) and the nerdy neighbour kid (Poulter) as the children.
They pick up a large motor home and off to Mexico they go.
The film starts on a false note with footage of funny You Tube videos.
It seems a cheap way to get laughs and put the first seed of doubt in my mind as to how good this film would be.
I needn't have worried because it proves to be a mere bump in the road of a very funny little journey.
Sudeikis and Aniston are great together and hopefully this is not the last time that they work with each other.
A lot of it is that they seem like perfect equals to me.
Both are funny, strong, very likeable personalities and they bounce off each other superbly.
The real find here is the talented Will Poulter.
His abilities are not news to anyone who has seen the wonderful "Son of Rambow".
As the nerdy, never been kissed Kenny he steals scene after scene.
The killer moment might be the learning to kiss scene in which his 'sister' and 'mother' take turns teaching him kissing techniques.
I wonder how daunting it must have been for the newcomer to perform this scene with the lovely Roberts and gorgeous Aniston.
Regardless this is a corker of a scene.
Also impressive is the character work done by Mark L Young as Casey's suitor Scottie P.
His meeting the parents scene is great but the outtakes show another level to his ability.
I look forward to seeing more from this actor.
We also have an excellent cameo from the awesome Luis Guzman as a Mexican Cop wanting a very particular bribe, a wonderfully slimy Ken Marino as a strip club owner and the inspired pairing of Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as fellow motor home vacationers.
Hahn is one of the funniest actors that I know of and a smart studio would find a fitting script and give her a lead role.
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber has already given us "Dodgeball" and with this film he has shown that it was no fluke.
Directors of comedy are often not as highly lauded as specialists in other areas.
How many specialist comedy directors are stars in their own right?
Woody Allen, Mel Brooks... hard to pick others.
There is hope that this may change with the likes of Thurber and Seth Macfarlane and I hope that it does.
Shooting a funny script badly can suck the comedy right out of it.
Thurber not only avoids this- he actively aids the process with well constructed scenes and tight pacing.
He knows how long to hold a shot on an actor and when to move on.
No scene outstays its welcome and none feels shortchanged in duration.
Comedy is very subjective of course and what I find funny might not be to someone else.
The best that I can say is that "We're the Millers" belongs in the company of the Hangover movies, "Horrible Bosses", "Ted" and the likes.
They're almost a genre in themselves- inappropriate comedies.
That's a very fitting word for "We're the Millers"- it is frequently inappropriate.
Perhaps my favourite example of this is the dense stripper Kymberley's reaction to the news that the girls are being turned into full fledged hookers.
She excitedly asks Rose "Have you heard the good news? We get to f*ck the customers for money now!'.
Another scene shows an Orca eating a dolphin in an office 'aquarium'.
It's not just the drug smuggling or the stripping and hooking, the spider-bitten male nudity or the (albeit fake) incest - it is the characters themselves.
There isn't much that you won't see coming in how the story plays out but if you are expecting growth in the characters you may be somewhat surprised in how things turns out.
The important thing of course is that a comedy is funny - I repeatedly bring this up in posts about comedies because it seems that often little attention is paid to this at a script level.
I laughed at least every couple of minutes during this film and would have happily seen it run an extra twenty minutes.
Make sure to stay for the end credits as there's an additional couple of minutes of outtakes including a brilliant prank played on Aniston who takes it in her stride.
I like to think that this is evidence of the cast having enjoyed making the film together but either way the end result is a blast.
"We're the Millers" is very funny- that is one of two things that you need to know.
The other is the start time of the next session.
A lot was desperation based on the poor hit ratio of comedies these days.
Having Jennifer Aniston in a comedy is certainly not an assurance of quality.
I love Aniston who is a genuine talent in both comedy and dramatic roles - refer to the great "Office Space", her best performance in "The Good Girl" and the underrated gem that is "Management".
But although she is always good the movies she stars in often are not exactly incredible.
The same could be said for her "Horrible Bosses" co-star Jason Sudeikis.
With "We're the Millers" the pair are once again starring in a concept comedy playing characters not a million miles from the sort that they are most often identified with.
So, a recipe for yet more mediocrity then?
Actually no.
This film is a fine example of what good casting combined with smart direction and a consistently, genuinly funny script can result in.
I liked "We're the Millers" a lot.
Now I am freely admitting to having consumed three or four Tiger beers at the fabulous The Merchant Bar & Kitchen and a couple of Gold Class Cinema cocktails before hand but that was over a three hour period and should in no major way be considered a factor in my enjoyment of this movie.
It just kept me laughing for all of its duration- without an alcoholic crutch.
 |
| A delightful tale of drugs, swinging, incest, strippers and family bonding |
David (Sudeikis) is a low rent weed peddler who loses his bosses money after getting involved in the misfortunes of a homeless girl and a nerdy neighbour against his better judgment.
To make up for the loss his boss (an off the charts weird Ed Helms in fine form) makes him go to Mexico to pick up 'a smidge of weed'.
In this instance a 'smidge' translates to a metric crap tonne.
Recognising that this is no easy feat he comes up with a plan.
He will put together a fake family in the belief that an all American, white picket fence looking famiy will arouse less suspicion at the border check.
So he pays down on her luck stripper Rose (Aniston) to be the wife and recruits the homeless girl (Roberts) and the nerdy neighbour kid (Poulter) as the children.
They pick up a large motor home and off to Mexico they go.
The film starts on a false note with footage of funny You Tube videos.
It seems a cheap way to get laughs and put the first seed of doubt in my mind as to how good this film would be.
I needn't have worried because it proves to be a mere bump in the road of a very funny little journey.
Sudeikis and Aniston are great together and hopefully this is not the last time that they work with each other.
 |
| Sudeikis and Poulter with the great Luis Guzman |
Both are funny, strong, very likeable personalities and they bounce off each other superbly.
The real find here is the talented Will Poulter.
His abilities are not news to anyone who has seen the wonderful "Son of Rambow".
As the nerdy, never been kissed Kenny he steals scene after scene.
The killer moment might be the learning to kiss scene in which his 'sister' and 'mother' take turns teaching him kissing techniques.
I wonder how daunting it must have been for the newcomer to perform this scene with the lovely Roberts and gorgeous Aniston.
Regardless this is a corker of a scene.
Also impressive is the character work done by Mark L Young as Casey's suitor Scottie P.
His meeting the parents scene is great but the outtakes show another level to his ability.
I look forward to seeing more from this actor.
We also have an excellent cameo from the awesome Luis Guzman as a Mexican Cop wanting a very particular bribe, a wonderfully slimy Ken Marino as a strip club owner and the inspired pairing of Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as fellow motor home vacationers.
Hahn is one of the funniest actors that I know of and a smart studio would find a fitting script and give her a lead role.
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber has already given us "Dodgeball" and with this film he has shown that it was no fluke.
Directors of comedy are often not as highly lauded as specialists in other areas.
How many specialist comedy directors are stars in their own right?
Woody Allen, Mel Brooks... hard to pick others.
There is hope that this may change with the likes of Thurber and Seth Macfarlane and I hope that it does.
Shooting a funny script badly can suck the comedy right out of it.
Thurber not only avoids this- he actively aids the process with well constructed scenes and tight pacing.
He knows how long to hold a shot on an actor and when to move on.
No scene outstays its welcome and none feels shortchanged in duration.
 |
| Oh, and yes- Jennifer Aniston is in ridiculously fine shape |
The best that I can say is that "We're the Millers" belongs in the company of the Hangover movies, "Horrible Bosses", "Ted" and the likes.
They're almost a genre in themselves- inappropriate comedies.
That's a very fitting word for "We're the Millers"- it is frequently inappropriate.
Perhaps my favourite example of this is the dense stripper Kymberley's reaction to the news that the girls are being turned into full fledged hookers.
 |
| Kathryn Hahn and Nick Offerman |
Another scene shows an Orca eating a dolphin in an office 'aquarium'.
It's not just the drug smuggling or the stripping and hooking, the spider-bitten male nudity or the (albeit fake) incest - it is the characters themselves.
There isn't much that you won't see coming in how the story plays out but if you are expecting growth in the characters you may be somewhat surprised in how things turns out.
The important thing of course is that a comedy is funny - I repeatedly bring this up in posts about comedies because it seems that often little attention is paid to this at a script level.
I laughed at least every couple of minutes during this film and would have happily seen it run an extra twenty minutes.
Make sure to stay for the end credits as there's an additional couple of minutes of outtakes including a brilliant prank played on Aniston who takes it in her stride.
I like to think that this is evidence of the cast having enjoyed making the film together but either way the end result is a blast.
"We're the Millers" is very funny- that is one of two things that you need to know.
The other is the start time of the next session.
| Rated | R16 for language and general illegal activies |
| Running Time: | 110 minutes (1hr 43mins without end credits but stay for funny outtakes) |
| Starring: |
| Jason Sudeikis | --- David Clark |
| Jennifer Aniston | --- Rose |
| Will Poulter | --- Kenny Rossmore |
| Emma Roberts | --- Casey Mathis |
| Ed Helms | --- Brad Gurdlinger |
| Nick Offerman | --- Don Fitzgerald |
| Kathryn Hahn | --- Edie Fitzgerald |
| Molly C Quinn | --- Melissa Fitzgerald |
| Tomer Sisley | --- Pablo Chacon |
| Luis Guzman | --- Mexian Cop |
| Ken Marino | --- Todd the strip club owner |
| Mark L Young | --- Scottie P |
| Laura Leigh | --- Kymberly |
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