I walked into Rawson Marshall Thurber’s new crime comedy We’re the Millers knowing absolutely nothing except what was on the movie poster. I basically was expecting a dysfunction raunchy comedy set in the suburbs where the family gets into some local shenanigans that hit some ridiculous low point for everyone and then there is a happy ending. What I ended up watching took a very approach that was consistently laugh out loud funny, awkward and eventually predictable, but that’s ok.
In We’re the Millers, Jason Sudeikis plays David Clark, a local pot dealer enjoying his simple life as a single guy dealing grass. When he gets robbed of everything, his boss, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms) gives him no choice but to head down to Mexico and pick up a little pot for distribution up north. Not fully prepared to go from local dealer to international drug smuggler, David eventually convinces his stripper neighbor Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to accompany him as his wife, his loner virgin teenager neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) as his son, and a homeless/runaway chick, Casey (Emma Roberts) to be his daughter as they motor home it down to Mexico to pick up weed. Eventually they discover that they’re picking up two metric tons of fine herb to bring back to the states and that’s when all the crazy fun/hilarious trouble really starts.
We’re the Millers is like an R-rated version of Robin Williams’ RV except every single member of the family is ridiculously weird, they’re drug smugglers yet in an odd way all need each other. On top of that, you’ve got the hilarity of that weird overly friendly motor home community which leads to a lot of laughs thanks to this other caravan of oddness comprised of Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as the stereotypical mid-west parents looking to enjoy their vacation with their daughter (Molly C. Quinn).
I had no idea who the director was of this movie and when I looked him up, I saw that Rawson Marshall Thurber was also the director of Dodgeball, who would of thought. The guy handles the movie exactly as expected, throwing some hilarious curveballs into the film while allowing the actors the freedom to improvise and roll with each other for our enjoyment. The best part for me was knowing that the entire cast was having fun, and you could tell despite some of Sudeikis’ off putting acting (even if he was funny). In fact, this dysfunctional non-family worked so well together to maximize their comedic energy that they could have actually been a family and no one would have noticed. They made me and the rest of the audience laugh on a consistent basis and that’s all I could ask for, especially Will Poulter, he was a scene stealer.
Can I also say that after Horrible Bosses and now We’re the Millers, it seems that Jennifer Aniston has finally found her role, she’s the hot naughty lady in raunchy R-rated films and that is perfectly alright with me. In fact, I think Cameron Diaz needs to take notes and just follow her path, maybe get the two opposite each other for a suburban nympho battle? Thoughts?
Overall, We’re the Millers was a fun run-of-the-mill filler comedy that should make most people laugh and show them a good time at the movies even if some of the jokes are clearly misses. It’s lighthearted yet will fill your mouth with that dirty taste of comedic disgust the way most modern Americans like their R-comedies. It’s predictable, it’s a bit generic but you’ll find yourself laughing no matter the actual quality of the feature.
Rating: A group of outlying misfits are thrown together for an amusing road trip that you’re lucky enough to witness (6.2/10)
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