Sisters - directed by Jason Moore
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, Bobby Moynihan, James Brolin, Dianne Weist, John Cena, John Leguizamo, Madison Davenport, Heather Matarazzo, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rated: R16 - Drugs, Sexual dialogue, plenty of profanity
Coming after the similar "Bridesmaids" and the double tap smash hits of last year "Spy" and "Trainwreck" means that any comedy has a lot to live up to - specially one that with a female main cast.
It's a good problem to have of course - such is the quality of recent comedy fare.
And honestly how much better can you do than the team of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey?
Famously best friends in real life both have hit tv shows on their resumes (Fey with "30 Rock" and Poehler with "Parks and Recreation") and the success of both shows is in large part due to them.
"Sisters" pairs them as siblings returning home to spend a last few days in the family house before it is sold.
Their parents have moved into a more suitably sized place in an aged community environment.
The women are not happy and decide to have one last party.
Throw issues with a child and a romantic subplot into the mix and you have the set up for "Sisters".
It's hard not to be drawn to this film if you are even slightly a Fey / Poehler fan.
I think at this point it is appropriate to mash them together like that - they have functioned for some time unofficially at least as a comedy pairing.
They have an easy back and forth together that means the dialogue flows very nicely indeed.
For a more obvious sense of how in sync they are look at the several instances (including this film) in which they do goofy dances together.
They have a rhythm that only comes with familiarity and mutual admiration.
The chemistry has to make up for a lack of belly laughs throughout most of the film.
I smiled plenty and was constantly amused but the laugh out loud moments didn't happen until the end credit bloopers reel.
Mostly the comedy is derived from the bumbling nature in which Poehler flirts with neighbour James (Ike Barinholtz) and the off the rails wildness of Fey's Kate.
Kate is a party animal who never grew up, can't hold down a job and has a flare with profanity that would make a sailor jealous.
It is a departure for Fey - not so for Poehler.
Poehler is essentially playing a variation on her Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope.
She is very good at this sort of anal, twitchy characterisation and manages to create characters that in lesser hands could merely grate.
There is nothing annoying about either Kate or Maura and they are actually very likeable.
I wish that this was true for a couple of other characters.
The main offender is Bobby Moynihan's Alex who is just not funny.
This character is written as a guy who tries too hard and fails at being funny but that doesn't translate to this actually being funny on screen.
Mostly it was just cringeworthy.
John Leguizamo as Dave the pervy layabout is good but the character has no payoff.
He is set up early as being a major player but it just doesn't happen.
John Cena - so funny in "Trainwreck" does what he can with the slim material that he is given but all that is required of him is to look intimidating (easy)
When he is given dialogue he nails it but it feels like he along with one other of the MVP's in this film (Leguizamo) is sidelined too long and given too little to do.
That would be fine if the leads were generating laughs but for me they weren't.
There are scenes that almost fly like a name pronunciation scene in a nail salon but most of the scenes clearly designed to be the key comedy moments either fizzle out or go on far too long.
Refer to the initial flirting with James scene shown in the trailer.
Quitting while it was ahead would have done this scene a huge favour but it just keeps going with the same joke over and over.
Clearly the centrepiece moment is supposed to be the music box up the butt accident but it is undercooked and not nearly as funny as it could have been.
Maybe I have just seen this scene played out too often before.
TV's "Seinfeld" had a better version with a pasta incident in the 21st episode of the sixth season called 'The Fusilli Jerry'
The 'serious' material that frames the action is pretty weak with a subplot about Fey's daughter desperately wanting her Mother to be more grownup so she doesn't have to be not working at all.
There is also the obvious matter of the recently sold house that the Sisters are about to throw a wild party in.
It is obvious what is about to happen and given that the life savings of the parents are in this house it is not a pleasant prospect to watch the place get trashed.
Clearly it is coming and sure enough- there is no fun it.
If I think of similar scenes in other movies - "Risky Business" and "Sixteen Candles" spring to mind- the trick is to have the stakes placed well.
An old couples future in jeopardy is not funny - wealthy disciplinarian's..... better.
There is a wrap-up sequence for all of the drama but it doesn't ring true on the whole.
Whatever issues I have with "Sisters" could have been largely wiped clean with more comedic moments that worked.
Simply stated - more laughs.
Oddly this movie wasn't written by Tina Fey.
She is a great comedy writer and even though you get plenty of whiffs of her hand in the dialogue the script is in fact credited to Paula Pell.
Pell is an experienced comedy writer (and actress) and has worked with Fey on "30 Rock" and also "Saturday Night Live".
She is not in uncharted territory with this movie then.
The talent involved here needed better material and whilst I didn't dislike the movie it was far from the laugh-fest that I had hoped it would be.
One look at the cast indicates that this should be a winner.
There's nothing bad about this movie but it isn't even close to "Bridesmaids", "Trainwreck" or "Spy" in terms of comedy.
It's always fun to watch Fey and Poehler and I have always had a huge crush on the former.
Poehler won me over with Parks and Recreation once they tweaked her character in the second season.
These are two supremely talented comedic actors and it almost works against them.
Maybe it is the weight of expectation that talent like this brings but "Sisters" isn't funny enough by half.
RATING: 70 / 100
CONCLUSION: A perfectly pleasant couple of hours but far from the laugh riot that it promised to be given the talent both sides of the camera.
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rated: R16 - Drugs, Sexual dialogue, plenty of profanity
Coming after the similar "Bridesmaids" and the double tap smash hits of last year "Spy" and "Trainwreck" means that any comedy has a lot to live up to - specially one that with a female main cast.
It's a good problem to have of course - such is the quality of recent comedy fare.
And honestly how much better can you do than the team of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey?
Famously best friends in real life both have hit tv shows on their resumes (Fey with "30 Rock" and Poehler with "Parks and Recreation") and the success of both shows is in large part due to them.
"Sisters" pairs them as siblings returning home to spend a last few days in the family house before it is sold.
Their parents have moved into a more suitably sized place in an aged community environment.
The women are not happy and decide to have one last party.
Throw issues with a child and a romantic subplot into the mix and you have the set up for "Sisters".
It's hard not to be drawn to this film if you are even slightly a Fey / Poehler fan.
I think at this point it is appropriate to mash them together like that - they have functioned for some time unofficially at least as a comedy pairing.
They have an easy back and forth together that means the dialogue flows very nicely indeed.
For a more obvious sense of how in sync they are look at the several instances (including this film) in which they do goofy dances together.
They have a rhythm that only comes with familiarity and mutual admiration.
The chemistry has to make up for a lack of belly laughs throughout most of the film.
I smiled plenty and was constantly amused but the laugh out loud moments didn't happen until the end credit bloopers reel.
Mostly the comedy is derived from the bumbling nature in which Poehler flirts with neighbour James (Ike Barinholtz) and the off the rails wildness of Fey's Kate.
Kate is a party animal who never grew up, can't hold down a job and has a flare with profanity that would make a sailor jealous.
It is a departure for Fey - not so for Poehler.
Poehler is essentially playing a variation on her Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope.
She is very good at this sort of anal, twitchy characterisation and manages to create characters that in lesser hands could merely grate.
There is nothing annoying about either Kate or Maura and they are actually very likeable.
I wish that this was true for a couple of other characters.
 |
| Tina Fey as Kate and Amy Poehler as Maura |
This character is written as a guy who tries too hard and fails at being funny but that doesn't translate to this actually being funny on screen.
Mostly it was just cringeworthy.
John Leguizamo as Dave the pervy layabout is good but the character has no payoff.
He is set up early as being a major player but it just doesn't happen.
John Cena - so funny in "Trainwreck" does what he can with the slim material that he is given but all that is required of him is to look intimidating (easy)
When he is given dialogue he nails it but it feels like he along with one other of the MVP's in this film (Leguizamo) is sidelined too long and given too little to do.
That would be fine if the leads were generating laughs but for me they weren't.
There are scenes that almost fly like a name pronunciation scene in a nail salon but most of the scenes clearly designed to be the key comedy moments either fizzle out or go on far too long.
Refer to the initial flirting with James scene shown in the trailer.
Quitting while it was ahead would have done this scene a huge favour but it just keeps going with the same joke over and over.
Clearly the centrepiece moment is supposed to be the music box up the butt accident but it is undercooked and not nearly as funny as it could have been.
Maybe I have just seen this scene played out too often before.
TV's "Seinfeld" had a better version with a pasta incident in the 21st episode of the sixth season called 'The Fusilli Jerry'
 |
| John Cena as Pazuzu and Ike Barinholtz as James |
There is also the obvious matter of the recently sold house that the Sisters are about to throw a wild party in.
It is obvious what is about to happen and given that the life savings of the parents are in this house it is not a pleasant prospect to watch the place get trashed.
Clearly it is coming and sure enough- there is no fun it.
If I think of similar scenes in other movies - "Risky Business" and "Sixteen Candles" spring to mind- the trick is to have the stakes placed well.
An old couples future in jeopardy is not funny - wealthy disciplinarian's..... better.
There is a wrap-up sequence for all of the drama but it doesn't ring true on the whole.
Whatever issues I have with "Sisters" could have been largely wiped clean with more comedic moments that worked.
Simply stated - more laughs.
She is a great comedy writer and even though you get plenty of whiffs of her hand in the dialogue the script is in fact credited to Paula Pell.
Pell is an experienced comedy writer (and actress) and has worked with Fey on "30 Rock" and also "Saturday Night Live".
She is not in uncharted territory with this movie then.
The talent involved here needed better material and whilst I didn't dislike the movie it was far from the laugh-fest that I had hoped it would be.
One look at the cast indicates that this should be a winner.
There's nothing bad about this movie but it isn't even close to "Bridesmaids", "Trainwreck" or "Spy" in terms of comedy.
It's always fun to watch Fey and Poehler and I have always had a huge crush on the former.
Poehler won me over with Parks and Recreation once they tweaked her character in the second season.
These are two supremely talented comedic actors and it almost works against them.
Maybe it is the weight of expectation that talent like this brings but "Sisters" isn't funny enough by half.
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