‘Well, I’m awake and I speak English, so yeah, I know what you’re saying…’
It occurred to me when my wife and I decided to watch a comedy flick of a Saturday night that very little Hollywood has to offer appeals to me. Comedy is so subjective but it feels like if you are not interested in Melissa McCarthy or Dwayne Johnson, your comedic options are pretty limited. It was this fundamental lack of choice that led us to We’re The Millers, a six-year-old movie that was only moderately well received in the first place. In the end though, this was the perfect Saturday night film and no, not just because Jennifer Aniston performs a number of stripteases throughout the film. Although that was a factor in my enjoyment. It feels like Jen is contractually obliged to appear in her underwear in every movie these days which is fine by me. I hope she is happy. She looks happy doesn’t she? To summarise, I would give Jennifer 9/10 for her performance in this movie, and that’s why we are all here right? RIGHT?
No. There is more to We’re the Millers than Jennifer Aniston. We also have the always funny Jason Sudekis who provides most of the film’s laugh-out-loud moments. Indeed, Aniston and Sudekis are great together which is understandable as they have appeared alongside each other in numerous other comedies in the past, including the excellent Horrible Bosses franchise. Elsewhere, Will Poulter and Emma Roberts round off the invented Miller family – who only exist to help Sudekis’s drug dealer smuggle some cannabis over the Mexican border – and they both add a degree of realism to what is an outlandish and predictable story.
Comedy isn’t really about plotting though, first and foremost it should be funny. Luckily, We’re the Millers has a good laugh to minutes ratio and it also throws some feels in their as well. The more sentimental moments could have been too schmaltzy without such a likeable cast but Sudekis and Aniston ensure that we care about this ragtag bunch of ne’er-do-wells right to the end. Ed Helms and Nick Offerman are also welcome additions in what is a strong cast for such a throwaway movie.
We’re the Millers has a strong central premise, lots of Jason Sudekis dead panning and Jennifer Aniston combining her perfect comic timing with wearing not many clothes. This is a film that is under absolutely no illusions of what it is and who it appeals to and for that it should be applauded.