Review: We're the Millers (2013)

WHY have I not reviewed this film before? I have watched it numerous times and it never gets old so I can't believe I haven't written this up before!! Confession time, when you text me with a message similar to that, I thought you having a 'Fault in Our Stars' moment and I hopped on the blog to double check. But you were right! Oops.  Nice to see you have faith - I already checked before I text you so I didn't do another 'Fault in Our Stars' haha!

David (Jason Sudekis) is a small time drug dealer who ends up owing a fair amount of money to his own dealer, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms). In order to pay him back, Gurdlinger demands that he pick up a 'smidge' of weed from Mexico and bring it across the border for him.  In order to avoid looking suspicious he enlists his stripper neighbour, Sarah (Jennifer Aniston), homeless girl, Casey (Emma Roberts) and the strange kid from next door Kenny (Will Poulter) to play his family, the Millers. Smidge is now my favourite term for a large quantity of anything. Smidge of ice-cream, anyone?

There is rarely a film that I will watch over and over again no questions, I usually find that if I know what is going to happen I get bored easily and give up.  This film however, never seems to get old, its hilarious each and every time I watch it.  Is it just me who is desperate for a sequel to this?  I know it won't be as good but I want more!!

I can't count the number of times that I have watched this and I still find new jokes to laugh about.  One of my favourites being Kenny's rendition of TLC's Waterfalls!!  Ed Helms is brilliant as narcissistic big boss Gurdlinger, I was really surprised at how well he played that role, I thought after the Hangover he would forever be typecast by his role in that. If you've ever seen him in The Office US, he's a sort of familiar character! Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn are awesome as the Fitzgerald's, the exact type of family the Millers have based themselves on (with a few surprises!) - the 'swinging' tent scene made me laugh out loud.

I've watched this a few times since we finally got it on DVD. Me and my fiance were so convinced that we would each buy it for each other over Christmas, that neither of us bought it, and we both kept thinking we already had it. Oops! It's the kind of comedy you can watch over and over again, although the last time we saw it, I did lose interest with the second half.

I have read a few reviews on this film and they all say the same, why did they pick A-lister clean cut people to play these potentially dark and edgy roles.  I think had they have gone with less 'clean-cut' actors, this would have come out as a much darker movie with significantly less laughs.  Yes, we know its unrealistic, yes we know strippers willing to become drug smugglers don't look like Jennifer Aniston and yes, we know that kids abandoned by their parents usually have bigger issues than not being able to kiss but do we care? No. It is what it is and it's funny because of it.  It won't be up for any Oscars but it will make you laugh over and over again and that is all I expected and wanted.

Definitely a repeat watcher for (already is!) A laugh a minute and doesn't seem to get old.

This will always be one of my comedies to reach out for on a rainy weekend.

 

Review: Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

As much as I enjoy a good mind-bending thriller or a jaw-dropping action film, there are times when I just need to watch a comedy. I don’t like having just 1 favourite film of any type, but if I had to pick my favourite comedy, it would be Horrible Bosses. Nick, Kurt and Dale have cheered me up after many a bad day at work, and I was both excited and nervous about seeing Horrible Bosses 2. The sequel is never as good as the original, right?

If you saw the original Horrible Bosses, you’ll know that the trio (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day) finally rid themselves of their awful superiors. Well now, they’ve decided to become their own bosses and create their own company, selling a product they invented, the Shower Buddy. They find an investor (Christoph Waltz) who puts in an initial order of 100,000 units, but then he rips off their product and cancels, putting the guys’ company in jeopardy. To save their business, they decide to kidnap the investors son (Chris Pine) and hold him to ransom.

Putting aside the silly plot and the brilliant one-liners, what I love the most about Horrible Bosses is the chemistry between the 3 main guys. It’s all so real and they bounce off each other so well, I can’t help but smile no matter what they’re saying. None of them is the main star here, they all have equal parts to play and they shine together. As much as I love Chris Pine, I wondered how he would fit into the cast but he played a fantastic ‘bad guy’. Think of Kirk from Star Trek in the bar, but a little more over the top, and that’s how he is in this.

You can expect the crude humour that Bateman, Sudeikis and Day spout throughout the film, but some of Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston’s lines made me cry with laughter. They’re just not the kinds of things you can imagine them saying, and the gag reel in the credits proved how difficult it was for them to keep straight faces at time. Really, the cast as a whole were equally brilliant.

Some of my favourite moments were the Sharpie marker incidents, the foolproof ‘plan’ the trio put together, and the support group scene, but honestly, I loved it all. If I were to give any criticism, it would be that the plot was just too predictable, although that didn’t really take anything away from it for me because although I worked out what would happen, there were still little details I wasn’t expecting, and plenty of laughs to distract me.

Honestly, I don’t think I could rate the two Horrible Bosses films now. I’d have to go back and watch the first again, but right now I rank them together, and highly! I know this film isn’t for anybody, but it’s just my cup of tea.