When watching “We’re the Millers,” you pretty much know exactly what to expect before you enter the theater. It’s a comedy centered on a road trip with a cast of diverse characters racing to get to the finish line.

The movie is very comparable to “Identity Thief,” which premiered earlier this summer and embraced Melissa McCarthy’s hilarious personality. While “We’re the Millers” is less outrageously funny than “Identity Thief,” there are plenty of funny moments to keep it from becoming dry. And with Jennifer Aniston’s and Jason Sudeikis’ extremely likeable personalities, they have been warmly received in their leading comedic roles.

Despite its predictability, “We’re the Milers” is a must-see for anyone who loves a good laugh and doesn’t find the harsh language and portrayal of drugs offensive. Aniston and Sudeikis make an outstanding team, with their humorous personalities balancing each other perfectly. And Aniston had no problem breaking out of her sweet personality to totally rock the sexy character of Rose.

Being a film about a road trip, the movie was surely prone to quite a few setbacks throughout the journey.

Each stop along the trip becomes more shocking and scandalous than the previous. While some moments are funnier than others, the sequence of stops makes for an exciting adventure with the Millers, and helps the characters develop and reveal more about themselves. This allows them to dig themselves into deeper holes and create more trouble, from which they struggle so desperately to get out.

Sudeikis plays David Clark, a small-town drug dealer who loses his stash and money after stepping in on a fight. Upon finding out, his jerk of a boss, played by Ed Helms, forces him out to embark on a risky journey to Mexico to retrieve a “smidge” of weed from an international drug dealer to smuggle back across the border.

David realizes that this is certainly not a task he can do alone. So, he persuades his neighbors: Rose (Aniston), a stripper; Kenny (Will Poulter), an abandoned and naïve teenager; and Casey (Emma Roberts), a homeless girl. They pretend to be a quirky and close-knit Griswold-type of family — a ploy to throw off border patrol as they attempt to come back into the United States. Although the disguise works, the situation becomes twisted when they are targeted for accidentally stealing from the international drug dealer.

Aniston and Sudeikis give equally engaging performances — though Aniston seems more like a sidekick to Sudeikis’ character rather than a second leading role. She has a few very funny moments throughout the movie, like teaching her “son” how to kiss while his “sister” helps and his “dad” watches, but for the most part lets the supporting cast members take care of the majorly comedic scenes.

This is surprising, because “We’re the Millers” was an important film for both Aniston and Sudeikis’ careers.

It’s Aniston’s first real raunchy film (with the exception of “Horrible Bosses,” which is far less scandalous than this one), and Sudeikis’ first post-Saturday Night Live role. It’s understandable, though, because all four members of “We’re the Millers” perform better as a family than as individual comedians.

The real comedians of the picture, though vastly underrated, are Edie and Don Fitzgerald (Kathryn Hahn and Nick Offerman) for their “stalkerish,” yet innocent, persona given off by many accidental run-ins along the trip. Don’s career in the Drug Enforcement Administration also adds an extremely doubtful element to the hope that the Millers will make it back safely with the entire “smidge” of weed. It is just the twist the movie needed.

All in all, “We’re the Millers” puts a unique spin on the genre of family vacation movies, which will certainly be hard to forget. With big-name leading roles and an excellent supporting cast, the movie is definitely worth the watch.

Published on August 28, 2013 at 1:39 am

Contact Brittany: baruss01@syr.edu