Comedy films should have the ability to made its audience crack a smile at the very least, and at the most should frequently evoke belly laughs and keep the comedy going; We’re the Millers (2013) definitely succeeds at the latter.
The 'Millers' set off on their mission / Picture Credit: New Line Cinema
We’re the Millers stars Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter as perhaps the world’s weirdest family.
The movie follows David (Sudeikis), a rather successful drug dealer who is not short of clients to sell to; however, when he is robbed of his stash and cash, he falls to the mercy of Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms), whom he's working on behalf of.
Gurdlinger tells David that he must smuggle a “smidge” of pot over the Mexican border in order for him to both settle his debt and even make some money, too; there’s just one problem – David looks too obvious...
While speaking with Kenny (Poulter), a teenager with a terrible, disappearing mother who lives in his building, he realises that families are often overlooked and sometimes even considered annoying.
David’s plan is to convince Kenny, petty thief Casey (Roberts) and stripper Rose (Aniston), who hates him, to travel with him to Mexico, pick up what turns out to be more than a “smidge” of weed, and bring it back to Gurdlinger – what could go wrong?
We’re the Millers may not be one of Hollywood’s best, but it is the perfect movie for a night alone, with friends or with a partner, as its perfectly-written comedy and brilliant casting makes it a must-see.
The premise of the film is hilarious within itself – a drug dealer getting together a fake family to smuggle drugs – and it allows for arguments, brilliant jokes, banter, and even some dangerous situations.
Each character has their own version of comedy, which works so well to mix and bounce off the other characters; Kenny, for example, is a rather simple person, who has a good heart but is somewhat naive, making him a ‘lovable goof’ of sorts, and sometimes completely steals the show.
The arguments David has with Rose, Casey and (less often) Kenny are comedy gold; Sudeikis’ delivery of his lines creates a minefield of humour for the audience to walk through for the duration of the movie.
The screenplay can obviously make or break a film, and if they actors don’t deliver the lines with commitment the whole feature can fall flat; We’re the Millers is a genuinely hilarious film with actors who clearly loved their roles, which translates on screen.
Comedic timing can sometime be difficult for movies to get right, which is a shame, but this feature definitely understood the value of comedic timing and used this to their advantage.
By using well-known actors and putting them in very different roles to one another, We’re the Millers sees four characters that really couldn’t be any dissimilar start to like each other and start to work together towards the end goal, which is of course to smuggle a whole RV’s worth of drugs back into America.
Essentially, We’re the Millers is the ideal movie for a night with yourself, friends or a significant other; it dispels pure, simple comedy that works so well to evoke laughter, and has the perfect cast and well-crafted script.
Watch the trailer for We're the Millers below:
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
RELATED: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark revisited: Children’s tales have never been creepier