Review: We’re The Millers
Man, what a disappointment. Despite the fact that director Rawson Marshall Thurber has a creative output so glacial that it almost qualifies as Mallick-y, I loved DODGEBALL in ways that are likely illegal in most states. So when I found out he had a new straight up comedy coming out I was very excited. Unfortunately this movie is not a return to form. In fact, outside of a few standout scenes (most of which are at least hinted at in the trailers) it’s hard to recommend this even as a rental.
The concept is promising enough. A low level drug dealer is forced to smuggle a “smidge” of weed into the US from Mexico. He decides the best way to do that is to pose as a fake, wholesome family. To sell the illusion he employs a stripper, a runaway, and a clueless rube. Believable, no. Funny set up, though, yes. Unfortunately the casting kind of fails here. All of the leads seem more like their fake selves than the reprobates they are supposed to be. So you mostly miss out on the conflict created by who they are pretending to be. Which means largely losing out on the comedic potential of the idea.
An even bigger part of the problem is how unlikable Jason Sudekis is as the lead. I enjoy the guy’s work, and don’t hate him for landing Olivia Wilde like some do, but he’s such a self-involved jackass throughout this that it’s not much fun watching him and his fake family go through all their drug smuggling hijinks. If you had a different, edgier actor this might have worked, but instead he just seems like a guy who should be a wholesome family man but really sucks at it. I ended up wanting the guy to fail.
Really putting the nail in the coffin is the fact that the script isn’t all that funny. Broad strokes are fine, but without some focus a lot of the laughs here feel like they came out of a talented improv class without any editing to really make them land. This feels like all set up with very little pay-off throughout the whole damn flick. It’s like the cheap strip club of comedies.
But, if you do go check it out anyway, all is not totally lost. Will Poulter as the dim but well meaning Kenny has a serious breakout role here. The kid is gold every time he’s got the spotlight on him. There’s also a pretty epic twist on the coming of age first kiss which is well worth checking out.
Other than that there’s a pretty sold post-credit scene, and that’s about it. I admit this may have suffered a bit because of my excitement for the film, but man, what a downer for a good looking vehicle like this to fall so damn flat.
Rating – 5/10