Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011)
*** (out of 4)
Pleasant comedy-drama about slacker Jeff (Jason Segel), a thirty-year-old who still lives in his mother's basement because he keeps thinking signs will show him his destiny. One day he believes he's following one of those signs and he ends up spending time with his brother (Ed Helms) who believes his wife (Judy Greer) is cheating on him. JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME isn't the flat-out comedy that the trailers want you to believe and at times I was a little surprised to see how serious it was getting. With that said, the screenplay really doesn't go for either laughs or drama as its main goal and instead it really just seems like a slice of life tale centered on a few hours in these brother's lives. I think what the film does the best is offer up some very good performances from the leads. Segel is completely believable in his role as the pothead trying to figure out his meaning in life. I thought the actor played the stoner bit extremely well but even more impressive was the way he was able to play the dramatic moments because this is where you feel for the character. Helms plays the same type of role that he often does and that's the jerk who needs to realize who he really is. Segel and Helms really do come across like real brothers and this certainly helps the film. Greer easily steals the movie as the wife and Susan Sarandon does a very good job in the role of the mother. Even Rae Dawn Chong does a good job in her bit. The one thing that really bothered me about the movie was its look and especially some annoying small zoom shots. These little zooms happen throughout the film and I'm really not sure why but they got quite annoying after a while. Still, the performances are what make the film and they're good enough to where the film just comes off very pleasant and entertaining.
*** (out of 4)
Pleasant comedy-drama about slacker Jeff (Jason Segel), a thirty-year-old who still lives in his mother's basement because he keeps thinking signs will show him his destiny. One day he believes he's following one of those signs and he ends up spending time with his brother (Ed Helms) who believes his wife (Judy Greer) is cheating on him. JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME isn't the flat-out comedy that the trailers want you to believe and at times I was a little surprised to see how serious it was getting. With that said, the screenplay really doesn't go for either laughs or drama as its main goal and instead it really just seems like a slice of life tale centered on a few hours in these brother's lives. I think what the film does the best is offer up some very good performances from the leads. Segel is completely believable in his role as the pothead trying to figure out his meaning in life. I thought the actor played the stoner bit extremely well but even more impressive was the way he was able to play the dramatic moments because this is where you feel for the character. Helms plays the same type of role that he often does and that's the jerk who needs to realize who he really is. Segel and Helms really do come across like real brothers and this certainly helps the film. Greer easily steals the movie as the wife and Susan Sarandon does a very good job in the role of the mother. Even Rae Dawn Chong does a good job in her bit. The one thing that really bothered me about the movie was its look and especially some annoying small zoom shots. These little zooms happen throughout the film and I'm really not sure why but they got quite annoying after a while. Still, the performances are what make the film and they're good enough to where the film just comes off very pleasant and entertaining.