Family in disguise

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2013)

Now here's a comedy that is raunchy and flat-out all the way through! "We're the Millers" delivers all the mixbag humor designated for Friday Night viewers. I was less expecting it to be a successful one, but I guess I failed. It is one of the best comedy films of the year, promising a great set of cast including Jason Sudeikis.
One of the reasons I trust the potential of this movie is its director Rawson Marshall Thurber ("Dodgeball"). After the disappointment of his last offering "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh", Thurber goes back in directing a script written by two writers of Wedding Crashers and the two writers of Sex Drive, which were also good comedies. The film proves to be the director's knack of making comedies than shifting to drama. Better yet, there will be more of Thurber in this genre in the future.
Jason Sudeikis stars as David Clark a small time pot dealer who gets over in his head. And to get out from under, he's got to smuggle a ton of Marijuana from Mexico across the border back to Colorado. To do that, he hires a local stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston), a homeless runaway girl Casey (Emma Roberts), and a nerd who lives in his apartment building Kenny (Will Poulter) to pretend to be his family. They rent a recreational vehicle, call themselves "The Miller Family" to make it successfully in Mexico. But will things go as planned? Who knows? At least nobody in the cast is gleeful enough to consume marijuana, just plenty of bumps along the way.
The script flirts with subtle humor but not getting too far. The offbeat dialogue and wicked sense of humor doesn't run out of steam. You may laugh on how screwed up a fake family which turns out to be drug smugglers, but the film doesn't take the serious issue of this crime. Instead, it is masked with deliberate sarcasm for the sake of getting even and willing to cope.
I consider the stars a Dream Cast. Sudeikis as a pot dealer is new for me. Every single quips of his part is packed with energy and absurdity even in dire situations. The same goes with Aniston as a stripper, though I do not consider her to be the good Rose in the film. However, the striptease scene felt crazy than wild. Will Poulter and Emma Roberts shares a rigorous chemistry as fake siblings. Poulter is the exact guy I liked to be the nerdy type, well nerdy might involve being a virgin or singing Waterfalls by TLC. Ed Helms as the billionaire boss is the weakest link perhaps. He's not as funny as he was in the Hangover Trilogy.
We're the Millers indeed is surprisingly funny with a great ensemble. Hands down, it is one of the best comedy films of this year. Hollywood may have run out of ideas, but everyone wants a good throwback of the recent funniest and less broad comedies of the past few years. You're in for a "Miller" treat.