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"We're The Millers" - why does this look so unfunny?

Started by BritishHobo, July 21, 2013, 03:21:42 AM

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BritishHobo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ

I only took notice of the absurdly giant Odeon poster for this movie, when I'd usually have just assumed it was another bland comedy, because it featured Will Poulter, an actor I love and have been wanting to make it big for years, next to Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudekis. I loaded up the trailer when I got in, and fucking hell - it's directed by the fella who directed Dodgeball, it also features Ken Marino, Ed Helms and Nick Offerman. It has a pretty cool premise. Jennifer Aniston strips. Will Poulter has a lead role. By all rights, this film should be brilliant, and I should be desperate to check it out.

But isn't that trailer so unfunny? There's not a single funny joke in the entire thing. Not even Marino/Helms/Offerman had any good lines. It's totally laugh-free. How? With the talent involved, how can it look so completely devoid of humour?[nb]This really shouldn't surprise me, in the year that Movie 43 was finally unleashed upon the world.[/nb]

neveragain

It's like National Lampoon's Vacation(s) mixed with Breaking Bad - what's not to love! It even has a retarded son.

Famous Mortimer

I watched all the special features on the US edition of Dodgeball recently, and the director guy seemed okay. He certainly did well during the truly bizarre commentary that he, Stiller and Vaughn recorded. Not done much recently, though, has he?

doppelkorn

I've just seen this and it's top. I wasn't expecting much but I was laughing from start to finish.

Shall I bother doing a full review? I'm not very good at them.

Thursday

I actually thought it looked alright, then it seemed from the trailer that there's a scene where Jennifer Aniston has to "prove" she's a stripper. So it may well be that the film is more concerned with building to that set-piece than anything else. Still it's the kind of thing I'd give a go on netflix.

Glebe

The trailer is vaguely amusing, considering the kind of run-of-mill 'offensive' comedy balls this clearly is, but it still looks clichéd, contrived and dated. I don't trust it.

Custard

Went on a date yesterday, and this was the film my lady friend wanted to see. Well, she actually really wanted to watch Alan Partridge, but being a rubbish boyfriend I'd already been to see it. Treat 'em mean eh lads?! Etc

Anyway, it was alright. Quite funny at times, though if you've seen the trailer, you've seen all the best bits.

The British bloke is a good comedic actor. I'd only seen him in Wild Bill before, and he was very good in both.

Emma Roberts I find quite unfunny and even unlikeable though, so her character didn't do much for me. Out of the four main characters, she is easily the weakest link.

Aniston and main blokey were alright too, and Aniston should do more comedic roles like this instead of identikit rom-coms, as she was clearly having a lot of fun.

Three stars. Of if I was on that Johnny Vaughn film show from the late 90's, I'd hold up a 6

doppelkorn

I thought I was a bit better than that even.

The relentless trailers on E4 (or is it 4music?) make it look either shit or good. I like Will Poulter so that was enough to make me go and see this. Bear in mind I've not been to the cinema since Seven Psychpaths. I don't really know what I was thinking. £10.60.

The plot's only really there to hang the jokes on but the writing and acting carries it brilliantly. It reminds me a lot of Superbad in that respect. They just amble from funny situation to funny situation with none of them feeling too forced. There's not even a low-key third quarter to dwell on.

The worst part is the opening scene where the main character is
Spoiler alert
watching loads of famous funny YouTube clips
[close]
and my heart just sank. Then it gets good as soon as he assembles the family and gets on the road. Then their family-but-not-a-family dynamic really kicks in. The addition of Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as the other family is great.

I think the trailer makes it seem a lot broader than it really is. It's not Woody Allen by any means but neither is it American Pie.

9/10.

I really should never write reviews.

9/10 - minus one point for the slightly

olliebean

It's OK, nothing particularly special though, certainly wouldn't go as high as 9/10 but I might give it a 7 at a push. Some of the jokes seemed very contrived, and the "let me prove I'm a stripper" scene is
Spoiler alert
really there for the sole purpose of having Jennifer Aniston do a sexy dance in her underwear before getting on with the plot
[close]
- which is pretty much the impression I got of it from the trailer, tbh.

BritishHobo

Apparently Warner Bros. envisioned this as a potential Hangover-style franchise. Don't know if it's done good enough for that to be feasible, too lazy to google and find out.

SavageHedgehog

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on July 21, 2013, 11:26:58 AM
I watched all the special features on the US edition of Dodgeball recently, and the director guy seemed okay. He certainly did well during the truly bizarre commentary that he, Stiller and Vaughn recorded. Not done much recently, though, has he?

Does anyone know if he was really pushing for that alternate ending? Good for him if so.

I think I read this another thread (idk which 1) but the poster online or somewhere has descriptions of the 4 characters with Will Poulter's character being a VIRGIN. Whereas at the busstops where I live instead of DRUG DEALER, STRIPPER, HELL-RAISER & VIRGIN, it's DRUG DEALER, STRIPPER, HELL-RAISER & KENNY.

Like 'Kenny' means something in this context. An identity of some sort.

Lyfjaberg

Quote from: Ralph Cifaretto on August 26, 2013, 04:29:04 PM
I think I read this another thread (idk which 1) but the poster online or somewhere has descriptions of the 4 characters with Will Poulter's character being a VIRGIN. Whereas at the busstops where I live instead of DRUG DEALER, STRIPPER, HELL-RAISER & VIRGIN, it's DRUG DEALER, STRIPPER, HELL-RAISER & KENNY.

Like 'Kenny' means something in this context. An identity of some sort.

He wears an orange parka and dies regularly, ya dingus.

Famous Mortimer

I watched it last night, and...it was alright. Nothing too bad, and lots of really quite good stuff, mostly involving Nick Offerman. The bits where they were just casually scumbags to each other were the best, and they brought back fond memories of when comedies didn't necessarily have to be so heartwarming.

I'd say everyone in an RV crossing over the US / Mexico border will be cursing this film for years to come, though.

BritishHobo

Indeed, it's not all that bad. Quite fun, and a little sweet, although obvious. Not fantastic, but alright. They're a likeable enough cast for me to be interested in the inevitable sequel.

I'm mostly just happy that Will Poulter's doing alright in America. School of Comedy could be very patchy, but he was easily the highlight.

BritishHobo

Oh yeah, but I forgot... I've never seen a film before that just blatantly uses existing popular YouTube videos (the double rainbow guy, the kitten, the guy jumping out of a bin as a fright and getting punched) at the beginning in order to get laughs. There was no other point to their inclusion. That's kind of fucking shameless.