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We’re the Millers (2013)
Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.
We’re the Millers is a silly, silly movie, but if certain kinds of unrealistic, sophomoric, physical humor don’t offend your sensibilities all by themselves, there is some excellent comic acting to redeem it, by the whole cast but especially by Jennifer Aniston.
Jason Sudeikis plays David Clark, a small-time weed dealer whose money is stolen one day before he gives his supplier a cut. Now he’s in huge debt and under the kinds of threats you’d expect from a weed supplier in the movies. The supplier offers Clark a way out: drive an empty RV to Mexico, visit the supplier’s source, pick up a ton of marijuana, return it to the supplier safely, and receive a huge cash payment.
Clark’s plan is to hire some neighborhood acquaintances, including a woman (Jennifer Aniston) who lives in his building and on whom he might have a crush, to accompany him as his pretend family. You can predict the rest, really: the pretend family finds itself pursued by the law, by an angry drug cartel, and by an overly friendly family also returning from Mexico in an RV. There is fighting among the fake family, and then of course there is reconciliation and bonding.
This dumb movie wins you over with likable characters and good acting. Emma Roberts and Will Poulter, who play the fake kids, are annoying and kind of cliche, but the actors manage to make you sympathize with them, and the dramatic moments are convincing, and the laugher that emerges is believable, even if the circumstances which bring it about are not.
Jennifer Aniston is so good in this dumb movie that I honestly think she deserves consideration for a Best Actress Oscar. It’s nearly impossible to compare this performance with, say, Cate Blanchett’s in Blue Jasmine, but the argument could be made that Aniston’s task is more difficult and that it is more successful, because I found myself laughing at stuff I normally don’t find funny, and I cared about her as if she were a real person in a movie that’s just about impossible to believe.
Sudeikis, too, is a nice surprise. He has a kind of Jason Bateman Everyman quality, an ability to play straight and still make you laugh. It’s a gentle onscreen demeanor that has you rooting for him despite yourself.
Don’t read me wrong: it’s a stupid movie, but it’s a pretty good stupid movie, and I enjoyed it. It’s much better than anyone should have expected.
7/10 (IMDb rating)
73/100 (Criticker rating)
Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.
We’re the Millers is a silly, silly movie, but if certain kinds of unrealistic, sophomoric, physical humor don’t offend your sensibilities all by themselves, there is some excellent comic acting to redeem it, by the whole cast but especially by Jennifer Aniston.
Jason Sudeikis plays David Clark, a small-time weed dealer whose money is stolen one day before he gives his supplier a cut. Now he’s in huge debt and under the kinds of threats you’d expect from a weed supplier in the movies. The supplier offers Clark a way out: drive an empty RV to Mexico, visit the supplier’s source, pick up a ton of marijuana, return it to the supplier safely, and receive a huge cash payment.
Clark’s plan is to hire some neighborhood acquaintances, including a woman (Jennifer Aniston) who lives in his building and on whom he might have a crush, to accompany him as his pretend family. You can predict the rest, really: the pretend family finds itself pursued by the law, by an angry drug cartel, and by an overly friendly family also returning from Mexico in an RV. There is fighting among the fake family, and then of course there is reconciliation and bonding.
This dumb movie wins you over with likable characters and good acting. Emma Roberts and Will Poulter, who play the fake kids, are annoying and kind of cliche, but the actors manage to make you sympathize with them, and the dramatic moments are convincing, and the laugher that emerges is believable, even if the circumstances which bring it about are not.
Jennifer Aniston is so good in this dumb movie that I honestly think she deserves consideration for a Best Actress Oscar. It’s nearly impossible to compare this performance with, say, Cate Blanchett’s in Blue Jasmine, but the argument could be made that Aniston’s task is more difficult and that it is more successful, because I found myself laughing at stuff I normally don’t find funny, and I cared about her as if she were a real person in a movie that’s just about impossible to believe.
Sudeikis, too, is a nice surprise. He has a kind of Jason Bateman Everyman quality, an ability to play straight and still make you laugh. It’s a gentle onscreen demeanor that has you rooting for him despite yourself.
Don’t read me wrong: it’s a stupid movie, but it’s a pretty good stupid movie, and I enjoyed it. It’s much better than anyone should have expected.
7/10 (IMDb rating)
73/100 (Criticker rating)