Movie Information
Release Date: December 18, 2015
Director: Jason Moore
Writer: Paula Pell (screenplay)
Cast: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, John Cena, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, Greta Lee, Madison Davenport, Rachel Dratch, Santino Fontana, Britt Lower, Samantha Bee, Matt Oberg, Kate McKinnon, Colleen Werthmann, Jon Glaser, Renèe Elise Goldsberry, Ben Sinclair, Lisa Altomare, Chris Parnell, Paula Pell, Tom Morrissey, Daniel Breaker, Dan Byrd, Dareen Lee, Emily Tarver, John Lutz, Sue Galloway, Jennifer Simard
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 118 minutes
Production Company: Little Stranger, Universal Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Language: English
Country: USA
Budget: $30,000,000
Surprising just about everyone in 2012, director Jason Moore shocked America with the collegiate Bardon Bella’s, hitting the stage with rhythmic beats in Pitch Perfect. Saying I was blown away by this film is an understatement. This time he’s back with the Saturday Night Live couple Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler. While I’m more of a fan of Tina Fey, the trailers got me excited for a sibling mashup between the two in their adult years. It seemed like a given that these two would pull off something amazing. So with a few of their jokes hitting hard and sticking, the remainder left me wondering what went wrong.
With the shocking news that their parents are selling their childhood home, Kate (Tina Fey), and Maura (Amy Poehler) decide to make one last-ditch effort at throwing an epic party to celebrate the good times. From this point on is where the film started to go downhill. Besides the two main stars, nearly every student from their graduating class got involved, and acted as if they’ve never had a glass of alcohol before. At the corner store the women run into the school pervert Dave (John Leguizamo), and at the grocery market bump into old enemy Brinda (Maya Rudolph). In both occasions cheap shots, and bland jokes are thrown back and forth which are uncomfortable, and stale. This is the tone of the entire film, and each character is trying to live a life that they apparently missed out on.
Initially things started out on the positive side. When we first met Maura, she was so polite, and had an innocent intrusiveness to her character, that she simply couldn’t help. You felt sorry for her, because you knew she was always trying to do the right thing. On the other hand meeting Kate, she’s clearly irresponsible, and her mistakes are too ridiculous to forgive. Yes her parents and daughter try to address this behavior in multiple scenes, but it’s not enough to grant a pass to get on board with her character. For no reason at all, both sisters are desperate towards men, throwing themselves at them whenever an opportunity arises. Kate is obsessed with raising her shirt showing off her breast, and it puts a new meaning to the word awkward. If there were some backstory to explain this behavior it might have been an easier pill to swallow, but instead it’s just a failed attempt at comedy, that doesn’t work, and begs for your laughs.
The party scene takes up eighty percent of the film. Other than excessive drug use, and a cameo from a popular star, there’s barely any enjoyment to be had. The disgusting influence of Kate and Maura rub off on others, resulting in adults in their forties trying to party like they’re teenagers. It doesn’t work at all, and is a poor excuse for entertainment. Some of the jokes worked, while the other half didn’t, but it’s even hard to give the one’s that worked credit, since their randomness doesn’t flow with the story or characters.
This film feels like it was put together in three hours total. I didn’t care about the characters, the story, or the outcome of their last journey. For the director to put together such a great film with his last project, I’m confused on how the ball was dropped with Sisters. I’ve seen Fey and Poehler pull together before delivering appealing material that works for adults, but this time they missed the mark tremendously, and were so far off it’s scary.
Video Review
