Film review: We're The Millers

RATING: 3.5/5

I don't think I like We're The Millers for the reason I'm supposed to like it - because it's a little bit raunchy and slightly subversive.

Drugs and sex! Sex AND drugs! Yippee! The reason I actually like it, in the end, is because it's sweet in spite of itself.

I love the way the characters end up looking out for one another despite their bickering.

Amazingly enough, the reluctant camaraderie of the fake Millers never comes across as forced or plot-driven; it seems to emerge organically from the interactions of these likeable performers. I really bought their affection.

The really weird thing is that this fake pretend family is more believable as a domestic unit than the real pretend families we're usually presented with on screen.

Comedies these days are typically made with the absolute lowest common denominator in mind. The stupider the better.

The subtle and sophisticated director Wes Anderson has one of the greatest comedy minds of his generation, and yet his films are rarely even thought of as funny.

If you don't go full moron, people apparently just don't get it.

We're The Millers manages to slip genuine wit in among all the slapstick shenanigans.

My favourite bit is where the kids beg to set off some fireworks and Sudeikis shouts that they've no time for fun, this is all strictly business.

Cut to a shot of the Millers standing in an empty desert as one pathetic firecracker pops.

The nerd boy flinches.

It's just so cute!

JASON JOHNSON

jjohnson@sph.com.sg

RATING: 3/5

I'm not an Aniston fan and such movies are generally not my cup of tea. But, surprisingly, I found the movie entertaining.

It's not great. There are the prerequisite toilet humour and politically incorrect jokes.

There are also some eyebrow-raising scenes including one where the "daughter" is teaching the "son" how to do a french kiss, and later the "mother" joined in the act.

Yet, the sweet undertones in the movie stood out. This fake family turns out to be quite genuine in many aspects.

Sudeikis and Aniston held the movie together as parents do in a family.

Aniston - OMG! - her body is to die for.

She's 44 and to still have that babelicious figure is amazing. I've no doubt her striptease scene is worth every cent of the movie ticket price for the men.

Roberts perfected the eye-rolling attitude that you'd get from most teenagers.

The gem here is British actor Poulter. Sure, he doesn't have a face that is pleasing to the eyes, but perhaps that's why he plays his part as the nerd with a huge heart so well.

Poulter, last seen in The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader as the very annoying Eustace Scrubb, is quite a revelation here. He should have an interesting career as a comic actor.

JOANNE SOH
joannes@sph.com.sg

Get The New Paper for more stories.