The NBC alums save this promising comedy from totally drowning

Rating: 5/10 (8 August 2013)

With a terrible cast, this movie would have been a downright disaster.
With an excellent cast, this movie would have been mediocre.
We're the Millers has a decent cast, and it almost saves the movie from being a weak summer comedy with an intriguing premise. Unfortunately the script was too distorted, the laughs were too far in between, and there is a cringe factor and an unnecessary force-fed sentimental taint that doesn't allow for the insane movie to breathe. For a unique movie (Four different people posing as a family to cross the border with drugs), this movie has a lot of clichés. Tons of awkward sex jokes, tons of awkward sexual moments, and all the minimal clichés you see in tired and effortless comedies clutter this overblown production.
But like I said before, the cast definitely makes up for most of the shortcomings. Jason Sudeikis has the charm to cover the general disgusting personality of his character. Jennifer Aniston has enough appeal to cover the all-to-common stripper-with-heart-of-gold routine (and enough to spread around all of California). The rest of the cast does pretty well with the material they are given, with special nods to Nick Offerman. Even after the comedy rolls past 100 minutes (News to Comedic Writers: comedies should never run past 90 minutes unless you really have a good concept) you will warm up enough to the cast to care about their whereabouts.
The movie's idea could have definitely worked as a stoner road comedy.
Instead, the movie comes off as disjointedly sex-driven and unnecessarily crude comedy whose main McGuffin becomes a pure afterthought. For a movie about a drug dealer, they definitely cut back on drug humor while focusing more on the male anatomy. Well, this is what happens when four different people write the script. Although Rawson Marshall Thurber didn't fumble the directing job, he didn't add any style or cleverness to the film.
We're The Millers does have its laughs; it does have its moments, and underneath the drudge has a hintage of charm. But, between these positives are plenty of negatives including inconsistency, too much of the crude humor, and its smuggling of clichés. Similar to Identity Thief, this movie can actually benefit from a remake down the road and not because of the quality of the original, but because of the promising premise that tumbled upon arrival.