Film Review: We’re The Millers

We’re The Millers is a story about a local drug dealer who hires a fake family to smuggle marijuana across the Mexican border into the States. Things go wrong, hilarity ensues.

If you haven’t already, watch the Red Band trailer here.

As I often do, I went into the theater after checking out the reviews for the movie on Rotten Tomatoes. It scores under 50 percent… but I still wasn’t sure what to expect, because I tend to like comedies that have terrible ratings. This one was no exception. As a rule of thumb, don’t trust the critics’ opinion on comedies — check audience reviews instead. In this case, the critics of Rotten Tomatoes were most definitely wrong. We’re The Millers is entertaining from start to finish.

However, don’t set your hopes too high; this movie is no Horrible Bosses, despite the similarities in tone and cast. There are some major faults, the main one being that the characters are all stereotypes: the douchebag drugdealer (Jason Sudeikis), the stripper with a heart (Jennifer Aniston), the rebellious teenager (Emma Roberts), the innocent kid (Will Poulter), the crazy asshole boss (Ed Helms), etcetera, etcetera. Luckily, the storyline is original enough, and though the ending is predictable, there are enough surprises along the way to keep you guessing.

The movie is most definitely carried by its cast, with the exception of Emma Roberts, who should consider early retirement. It’s nice to see Jason Sudeikis in a leading role, though it’s not much different from his other ones. Jennifer Aniston plays a mix between her promiscuous character in Horrible Bosses and her usual romcom characters. Will Poulter, playing the innocent kid, brings the most laughs with his face expressions alone. Best of all, Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn play a weird married couple; they are an acting match made in heaven.

Any time you see a comedy in theaters, your experience will depend, at least partly, on the other movie-goers. Luckily, the audience I saw this movie with was ready for a laugh. At one point, actual tears streamed down my face. Without giving anything away, it had something to do with this scene:

This was also a hoot:

It’s a stupid comedy, so if you don’t like stupid comedies, you probably aren’t going to like this movie. If you do like stupid comedies, you’re in luck! This one might just become one of your favorites.

Despite its predictability and formulaic characters, We’re The Millers is definitely worth seeing, especially during the summer, when nothing you want to see is in theaters. The movie runs for nearly two hours, but fear not, you’ll never have to look at your phone or watch – there are no comedic lulls.

P.S. If you’re a Friends fan (who isn’t?), make sure you stick around for the bloopers at the end!