We’re the Millers
For a comedy with as high a concept as “We’re the Millers,” the finished film feels remarkably slight. I enjoyed it well enough, but it didn’t land quite the punch of comedies such as “The Hangover,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” and “Horrible Bosses” among other summer offerings in years past.
Here, Jason Sudeikis stars as David, a low-level pot dealer who finds himself broke when it’s time to pay his supplier (played by Ed Helms). To wipe away that debt, he goes on a smuggling run into Mexico to bring back a “smidge” of product. However, if it’s just him bringing it back, it’ll probably be a bit conspicuous, so he hires a stripper from his apartment complex (Jennifer Aniston), a kid he has a rapport with (Will Poulter), and a homeless teenager (Emma Roberts) to pose as his family, reducing the chances of seeming suspicious. Unfortunately, you just know things aren’t going to go smoothly.
I enjoyed this film enough when I was in the moment– with a cast like this one has, it’s hard not to squeeze out at least SOME laughs –but the more I’ve thought about it, the less I enjoy it. The laugh moments in the movies I listed above are ones that stick with you, and when recalled, bring a smile to your face; there aren’t really a lot of those in this case. Sure, I can watch Aniston and Roberts play a scene where they’re teaching their fake son/brother to kiss all day for, um, personal reasons, but on the whole, the film just feels too convoluted and unstructured to really resonate in the long-term. (Always a risk when you have four writers on a movie, as you do here.) The director, Rawson Marshall Thurber, also directed “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” which was another summer comedy smash like the ones mentioned above in 2004, but that film dove right into the deep end of its absurd premise, and was focused enough to know the story, and how to play it. This film lacks that focus, not to mention a consistent comedic voice, as it has too many threads going on to really commit to one.
