We're The Millers

WE'RE THE MILLERS

Director : Rawson Marshall Thurber

Year : 2013

Genre : Comedy

Rating : **

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston and Ed Helms, 'We're The Millers' is the latest comedy from 'Dodgeball : A True Underdog Story' director Rawson Marshall Thurber. Telling the simple story of a small time drug dealer who convinces three misfits to pose as his family so he can complete a dangerous cross country drug smuggling, 'We're The Millers' combines the elements of a typical road movie with the bawdy and crass humour that has infested movies such as 'Identity Thief' and 'The Hangover Part III'. Full of vulgar language, uncomfortable cringe - worthy situations and a helping of shock nudity, 'We're The Millers' aims very low indeed and despite some good performances from it's cast and some well paced action comedy scenes, the film pretty much hits it's mark. Completely forgettable and not particularly funny in any way, 'We're The Millers' is not the worst comedy of the year, but it is certainly not the best either.

Jason Sudeikis plays David, a low level pot dealer who finds himself on the wrong side of the drug empire when a huge amount of cannabis and cash is stolen from his apartment; cash and drugs that actually belonged to Brad Gurdlinger (played by Ed Helms), a high level narcotics distributor. To make up for this huge loss, Brad orders David to do a small drug run that involves crossing the border into Mexico and bringing back a small batch of marijuana back into the States. After realising that one man crossing the border may look slightly suspicious to the customs officers, David recruits the help of a stripper (Aniston), a homeless teenage girl (Emma Roberts) and his dorky adolescent neighbour (Will Poulter) to pose as his family and accompany him across the border. Forming the bogus family 'The Millers', the small group of oddballs embark on a journey that will find them love, danger and friendship in pretty much equal measure. 

Despite it's pretty star filled cast and the eye of a popular comedic director, 'We're The Millers' leaves very little room for character development or interesting narrative arcs. Telling a very conventional oddball road story, the movie leaves no surprises at all and plays out in exactly the way you expect it to. Unfortunately, the momentum created by the action scenes and the various sticky situations is almost entirely lost and the generic nature of the plot leaves little to be explored or developed. It is clear watching both this and the pretty funny 'Dodgeball  : A True Underdog Story' that Rawson Marshall Thurber can clearly direct comedy and there are a few moments where 'We're The Millers' shows signs of being a cut above the rest of the more recent wrecks that have disappointed me so much this year. However, Thurber quickly throws this ideology out of the window when he reverts back to the crass toilet humour and random outbursts of obscenities that has made so many other movies to teeth grinding-ly awful. 

It's cast is pretty strong and Jason Sudeikis does a pretty good job as the central protagonist while the supporting cast work well together as a dysfunctional group who have to learn to like each other to escape conviction and even death. Emma Roberts, who wowed me in Wes Craven's brilliant but under-rated 'Scre4m' is perfectly convincing as a loner teenager who knows more about the world than those much older than herself and Will Poulter (who was fantastic in Garth Jenning's awesome 'Son Of Rambow') is awkwardly likable as the naive and dorky next door neighbour Kenny. Jennifer Aniston is perfectly fine as Jason Sudeikis' 'wife' but I get the feeling that she was mainly cast due to the fact that she looks good in her underwear. 

Nothing to write home about at all, 'We're The Millers' simply serves a filling for a gap between 'The Hangover Part III' and the next super-successful comedic dead zone. The actors do there best and despite the lazy script and poorly assembled jokes, Sudeikis and Poulter stand out as the highlights of the movie. But while their performances are perfectly fine, I can't really recommend that you rush to your cinema to see this. The amount of laughs you get from the film do not warrant the extortionate multiplex prices and you would be much better waiting for the DVD release when you can have a few drinks and enjoy the movie while under the influence. Bland, repulsive and completely forgettable, 'We're The Millers' is equivalent to cinema popcorn; it doesn't taste of much, it provides absolutely no sustenance whatsoever and after a while, it makes you feel slightly unwell.