The Millers milk the guffaws

The Millers milk the guffaws

We're the Millers goes down a road well-travelled by many Hollywood comedies but there's little to complain about since it does what's expected of it and delivers ample laughs along the way.

Not only that, Saturday Night Live's alumnus Jason Sudeikis and a hot-and-funny Jennifer Aniston look surprisingly great together on screen and share plenty of comic chemistry.

The pair clearly look like they're having fun hamming things up with the rest of the cast and that's probably what makes the ride on this road comedy so enjoyable despite the predictable humour.

Sudeikis plays David, a small-time drug dealer who's forced into the big league when he ends up on the wrong side of a robbery where his cash and stash are stolen.

His supplier Brad (The Office's Ed Helms) gives him a way out - smuggle his latest shipment out from Mexico and he's free to walk.

David knows there's no way he's going to be able to pull things off on his own but feels he might have a better chance of fooling border patrol if it looks like he's holidaying with his family.

Enlisting the help of his neighbours - stripper Rose (Aniston), juvenile delinquent Casey (Emma Roberts), and the socially awkward Kenny (Will Poulter) - to play his wife, daughter and son respectively, they become the Millers and set off for Mexico on a trip they'll never forget.

Of course, it's only memorable for all the wrong reasons as they encounter various colourful characters including a corrupt police officer who's willing to look the other way in exchange for sexual favours and a tarantula with an appetite for certain body parts.

To get out of these sticky situations and more, the Millers have to learn the true meaning of what being a family is all about. The gross-out and raunchy humour becomes tamer near the end as the plot steers the film to its feel-good final act.

But it's the naughty bits that make the Millers rock and will draw the loudest chuckles; like the scene where Kenny learns the art of kissing from both his "mum" and "sister", only to have his crush walk in while they're all sucking face. Aniston also gets a chance to show off her fab-at-44 body, breaking into a striptease routine at one point to distract the attention of a mob boss.

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball) and written by two pairs of writers - Bob Fisher and Steve Faber (Wedding Crashers), and Sean Anders and John Morris (Hot Tub Time Machine) - We're The Millers is put together by a team of talents who know their comedy and it shows.

The gags are as un-politically-correct as it gets and delivered at breakneck speed, leaving little time for the audience to think where they've heard that joke before or how rude some of them actually are.

Midway through, it's also easy to guess where this very funny road movie genre is heading but because the Millers are such great company, nobody will actually mind the ride.

dylantan@sph.com.sg

Rating: B+


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