By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I had seen the trailer for this a couple weeks ago, and asked my husband, Stephen to take me. I love films like this. The commercial brought to mind great movies like Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and National Lampoons Vacation (1983). There is something special about family-bonding comedies that take place while on road trips.
Steve was not as keen on seeing it. He disliked the premise and thought it looked generic. I made a deal that bringing me to the movie would be my anniversary present. He relented and though he didn’t love the film, he didn’t despise it either.
I actually enjoyed it. Though not as good as other films in the same sub-genre, it did deliver a funny and sometimes sweet movie about 4 messed up people finding each other in the most necessary time of their lives.
The movie opens with small-time pot dealer (Jason Sudeikis) David getting robbed by some small-time gang-bangers. They took all of his pot, his money, and worse his boss’s money.
When David doesn’t answer his phone, two thugs bring him to his boss Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms). David and Brad strike a deal. If David goes to Mexico and smuggles marijuana across the border, Brad will not only forget about the money that David owes him but also will give him $100k for his troubles.
Reluctantly and without any other choice, David agrees. He enlists the help of Rose (Jennifer Aniston) who becomes unemployed and penniless after quitting her job as a stripper when her boss asks her to perform sex acts on the clientele.
Second, David’s geeky 18 year old neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) is asked to help. Though Rose and the young troubled homeless “daughter” Casey (Emma Roberts) demand money, Kenny jumps in without asking for a cent.
Each character has a troubling back story. Kenny’s mom ran off over a week ago with someone she met at a bar. He’s insecure, never kissed a girl, and is in desperate need of a male role model.
Casey is tough on the outside and though they don’t go into what drove her away from her parents, it’s easy to tell her life wasn’t an easy one.
Rose’s protective nature over Casey hints that she has many regrets about the path she chose and hopes to keep Casey from following in her shoes.
David just never grew up. He sits around watching America’s Most Stupid on YouTube. These are the videos that show idiots getting hit in the nuts, running around naked, etc. I never found the allure of these. I hated America’s Funniest Videos and America’s Funniest People though I was forced to sit through them as a child when we didn’t have cable. Nowadays, there are so many morons who will either humiliate themselves, their friends, or actually assault people in a failed attempt at amusing others.
Awhile back, I had the misfortune of working and sitting side-by-side with this annoying twenty-something, football loving wannabe frat boy. Let’s call him Douche Looking back, I am sure Douche either had a single digit IQ or burned out all of his brain cells with drinking and drugging. Douche was the kind of person, who would quote Family Guy, Jay Leno and local morning DJs thinking it made him the wittiest guy in town. I’d cringe every time he walked through the door.
One day during training, he asked me and a bunch of other people if we wanted to see “the funniest thing ever.” I didn’t hold my breath. I figured I’d see a drunken guy throwing up or maybe a game of beer pong gone horribly wrong. Douche ended up showing us a video where two scumbags ordered a milkshake from a drive-thru and then upon receiving it, threw the entire drink at the cashier.
Some people at work laughed politely while one or two seemed to actually enjoy it. Only I and a friend of mine seemed genuinely appalled. I couldn’t believe that this was what the general public found funny nowadays. I told Douche how absolutely disgusting it was and his response was, “hey the chick (cashier) is now super famous. She should be happy.”
For a long time after that, I steered clear of Youtube for anything but music videos, movie trailers, and old soap opera clips. Thankfully my faith in humanity was restored when my husband Steve and brother Geno found some amazing comedians on the internet.
Anyways, Rose, David, Casey, and Kenny, who give themselves the last name Miller, fly to Mexico and pick up the marijuana. When they go inside the drug warehouse, the family is shocked by the amount they are expected to take. David realizes that Brad lied about how much marijuana he was going to bring back. Brad had said it was going to be a “smidge and a half” when in reality it was two pallets full. The drug smugglers load the RV with it and the Millers take off.
Though they get across the border with very little trouble, they soon realize they have a bigger problem. The amount of marijuana wasn’t the only thing Brad lied about. The drugs that he had David take were not his but instead a man by the name of Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley) who is not happy when he finds out that he has been robbed.
Meanwhile, the Millers make friends with Don (Nick Offerman) and Edie (Kathryn Hahn). They are another couple who drives an RV and is happy to meet someone on the road to converse with. When David drives too fast and their camper breaks down, it’s the Fitzgeralds who come to their aid. They tow the Millers’ RV and offer them a place to stay. Soon, David finds out that Don is an agent with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency).
Now, the Millers have to hide from the police, the DEA and the real drug smugglers.
The movie has a great pace, some really funny bits, and a great cast. The one thing that was missing was the emotional connection between the main characters. It’s hinted at but never really formed. They do nice things for one another and it is easy to see that they do start viewing themselves as a family, but there’s never that AHA moment.
For example, the best scene in Little Miss Sunshine is when the entire family gets on stage and dances
with Olive (Abigail Breslin). It is then that we see how close the family has become and that they are going to be alright going forward. It’s not sad. It’s actually hilarious, but even so, it is one of the most touching moments in cinematic history. I was waiting for that type of scene in this movie, and it never really came. Though it’s clear that they will all be close going forward, the emotional part of it was absent in many ways.
Still, I would suggest this movie as a fun watch. In many ways it has the same feel to it that Observe and Report (2009) had. Though We’re the Millers isn’t nearly as dark, there were a lot of similarities between the main characters. Both are flawed individuals who have gone nowhere their entire lives and are given the opportunity to shine and do the right thing. They learn their closest friends are not what they seem. There’s also a few other connections but as to not give away spoilers, I won’t mention them here.
The acting is fantastic. Sudeikis is always hilarious. He was one of my favorites on SNL and my second favorite comedian named Jason. The first is Jason Mantzoukas, who is a God in my book.
I did learn that I don’t hate Jennifer Aniston. I always thought that I couldn’t stand her, but then found myself enjoying a lot of her work. Office Space (1999) is a classic. The Iron Giant (1999) is one of the greatest animated movies of all time. Even The Good Girl (2002) was really good. Hell, she was in the first Leprechaun (1993) which is definitely worthy of its cult classic status.
The major issue I think I had was that I absolutely loathed Friends (1994) and I always had to watch it. Everywhere I went in the 90s, people would have that show on. Then, everyone would talk about it. I remember in 9th grade, being in class and students chatting about Ross and Rachel. There were these two girls who we’ll call Urkel 1 and Urkel 2. They considered themselves best friends and would do cheers in computer class. They weren’t cheerleaders, mind you, but they loved doing fake cheers for our computer teacher, Mr. Smigel (I’ll use his real name). Smigel just let them do it for some reason. I don’t know why. He was a weirdo who looked like a combination of Wallace Shawn and a thirty-something Rob Reiner. Well, Urkel 1 and Urkel 2 loved Friends and would do stupid cheers for the show. Those two idiots solidified my absolute hatred for the sitcom.
The second strike came when I saw Rumor Has It….. (2005) which is such a poorly written, directed, and acted film. There is not a single saving grace in that movie.
Now, The Graduate (1967) is one of my favorite films of all time. It’s an outstanding book and despite that fact is one of the few movies that outshines the novel. Katharine Ross who also portrayed the iconic JoAnna Eberhart in The Stepford Wives (1975) shines as the torn and confused Elaine Robinson. Her performance connected the audience to her struggle and earned the character a great deal of sympathy as she decided to follow her heart.
To reduce such an amazing movie with such a superb cast to Rumor Has It…. killed part of my soul. Essentially, the story is that Aniston’s character realizes her family was the basis for The Graduate. It’s worse than it sounds.
That said, after watching this movie, I will admit that it is not Aniston who made Friends one of the most overrated shows of all time or Rumor Has It…. one of the worst movies in history. She is actually a really good actress who is not only versatile but has great comedic timing when necessary.
In The Good Girl she showed off her dramatic chops and in both this and Office Space she proved if the jokes were written well she could deliver a punch-line.
The other actors did a fine job as well. Will Poulter was very believable and portrayed Kenny as sympathetic and believably geeky without being annoying. Kenny was an endearing kid that the audience can’t help but root for.
Emma Roberts also did a great job. She actually looks a lot like my friend Jen. That thought just wouldn’t leave my mind anytime she was on screen. She was a fun character who was both a strong and wounded female lead. Roberts portrayed the duality of her character really well. It was with her character that pace was extremely important. The first introduction to her character was when the jerks who robbed David attempted to rob her. She was sarcastic, insulting and showed no signs of weakness. It wasn’t until she felt betrayed by her “family” that her insecurity came out.
Overall, it’s definitely a movie I would recommend. It isn’t necessarily something you have to see in the theater but if you’ve already seen The Conjuring (2013) this isn’t a bad second choice. Not to mention, after the horror that is The Conjuring, you need something funny. That movie gave me nightmares for days!
Scared Stiff Reviews: 7/10
