RBR: We're the Millers

This comedy about a small time drug dealer who pretends to have a family so he can smuggle a large quantity of marijuana across the border turned out to be a surprise hit earlier this year. Now having seen it on DVD, its success is that much more surprising to me. For one, movies that come in August typically are not poised to be blockbusters. But the bigger reason is that the film's humor and subject matter do not seem like they would lend themselves to a mainstream hit. Credit the likeable cast for driving this creaky premise into a film that does enough to get by. SNL's Jason Sudekis plays the drug dealer who rounds up Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, and Will Poulter to play his family members. The film also features appearances from comedians including Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, and Kathryn Hahn. The humor here is very hit and miss. I found too many of the gags had decent setups with weak payoffs. The bigger issue though was poor character development. Almost everyone here is inconsistent and behaves in a manner that suits the joke and the role they play in it. Unfortunately, I found there to be very few surprises offered here. Given that this is a film that is relying on half of its jokes to work based on shock value, that's a problem. I also found the film to be a bit too cynical at times regarding the American dream and suburban family life. It feels like they want the characters to take a jaded attitude toward that lifestyle, but the actors seem to be good representatives of it. I did not find myself actively hating this film like other pathetic comedies I have seen this year, but I also was left confused as to what was offered here that struck a nerve with so many viewers to cause it to earn as much as it did at the box office. To me this is the epitome of an average film that gets by with its pleasant actors engaging in some occasionally humorous antics. Rating: ** 1/2