“We’re the Millers” Leaves Me with Mixed Emotions

Opinion

It seems like good comedies have been few and far between this summer, which made the release of “We’re the Millers” on Wednesday starring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston that much more anticipated. The movie follows the story of David Clark (Sudeikis), a small-time drug dealer who finds himself in hot water with his boss Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms) after he is robbed trying to help his neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) and a homeless runaway named Casey (Emma Roberts).

In desperate need to repay his boss before he finds himself on the wrong end of a gun, David comes up with a plan: he decides to take Kenny, Casey, and another neighbor—a stripper named Rose (Aniston)—to Mexico and pose as a family while they pick up a “smidge and a half” of drugs for Gurdlinger (SPOILER ALERT: Gurdlinger is not exactly truthful about the amount of marijuana the “family” is picking up nor who it was intended for).

With their rented RV weighed down with pot, the family prepares to head back to Denver when they meet the Fitzgeralds: Don (Nick Offerman), Edie (Kathryn Hahn), and their daughter Melissa (Molly Quinn). What seems like a chance meeting at the border turns into something more when the Fitzgeralds pick up the Millers once their RV breaks down, leading to one of the oddest/funniest set of campsite scenes in movie history.

Meanwhile, word gets out that the shipment of marijuana the Millers picked up was not for Gurdlinger, but for Mexican drug lord Pablo Chacon, who is understandably upset and enraged over the situation. What results is Chacon and his guard One-Eye hunting down the Millers while they repeatedly encounter unforeseen mishaps, which leads to several memorable moments.

Most of the time once I have had a day to digest a movie I can clearly develop what I thought of it: It was good, it was bad, [insert actor’s name] was perfect, [insert another actor’s name] was awful, etc. However, “Meet the Millers” left me on the fence.

I thought Jason Sudeikis was very funny throughout (as he is in the majority of his film and television appearances), as was Nick Offerman in the time he was on the screen. Meanwhile, discounting Rose’s scenes where she is displaying her occupational skills (SPOILER ALERT: Aniston proves she is still one of the best looking women in the world), I thought that Jennifer Anniston was a letdown due to the fact that she was not very funny, which hurts the film since she is in the lead female role. Poulter and Roberts did good jobs in their roles as the Miller’s “kids”, each providing moments of high hilarity despite not being the real focus, but Ed Helms was flat-out forgettable in his role in the movie, as his “act like a good drug lord” mentality was not funny nor was it slightly entertaining.

“We’re the Millers” provides for a good deal of laughs during its 110 minute runtime, but in my opinion it is not the type of movie you would watch in the theaters, fall in love with, buy the DVD, and watch it several more times. It is what it is: a funny comedy about wannabe drug dealers that come together as a family. Although it is not as good as “Horrible Bosses”, which was the last film Sudeikis and Aniston did together, it is by no means an awful movie; it just doesn’t really stand out.

When it’s all said and done, I give “We’re the Millers” a 6/10; it does not top “This is the End” as the funniest comedy I have seen this summer, but I didn’t leave the theater thinking why in the world did I pay $10 for that.

For those interested in seeing the movie, make sure and stay once the credits roll for the gag reel, which features several funny outtakes.

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