Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Writer: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass (Screenplay)
Starring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer, Rae Dawn Chong, Steve Zissis
Plot: Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his widowed mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his unhappily married brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
Tagline – The first step to finding your destiny is leaving your mother’s basement.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Nice Family Based Drama
Story: Jeff, Who Lives at Home starts as we meet Jeff (Segel) a stoner that lives in his mother Sharon (Sarandon) basement, he is always looking for his destiny and a mysterious call from a stranger looking for a Kevin leads him to go out of his way to find the truth. When going out on to do a household chore he finds himself joining his older brother Pat (Helms) as they go on the chase to figure out if Pat’s wife Linda (Greer) is cheating on him.
Thoughts on Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Characters – Jeff is a slacker that is desperate to find a purpose in his life believing he will be given signs in life to find this goal, he doesn’t have a job and today he goes on an adventure in hope of finding his place in the world. Pat is the older brother to Pat, he has recently impulse bought a Porsche which has only continued his strain of his marriage which leads him to share his honest truth with Jeff while trying to figure out if his wife is cheating on him. Sharon is their mother of the boys who is a widow still working a day job, today she gets secret message which adds some spice to her birthday.
Performances – Jason Segel in the leading role works because he does have a good understanding of withdrawn character his playing. Ed Helms does give us a good performance in his role where he does play louder of the two brothers. Susan Sarandon does a good job with her role even if her story does feel distant from the rest of the film.
Story – The story follows one day in the lives of the three family members, Jeff finding his place Pat facing the truth and Sharon getting an unexpected surprise in her life. The story shows how things can come together for the series of events to bring a family closer and how they need to support each other through struggles, the sprinkling of comedy helps us along the way too. This does focus on needing to express feelings for the people that are important in your life however much you feel like it is a weakness in their eyes.
Comedy – The comedy in this film helps takes moments of seriousness out of the story, which does give it elements of realness in the film.
Settings – The film gives us an everyday city for the film to take place in, showing how these people do have to operate in an everyday situation.
Scene of the Movie – The lunch.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – While it shows her day, Sharon’s storyline doesn’t feel as connected to Jeff’s.
Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful drama that shows the difficult decisions people will be making on an everyday basis, being it following a believed destiny, fixing a marriage or taking a chance.
Overall: Wonderful drama
Rating
