For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Jeff, Who Lives At Home
The Impression:
The Duplass Brothers have left me cold for a while now.
Though I thought The Puffy Chair was novel in its
intimacy and emotional output, I couldn’t say it was a film
that I loved or even that I remember that well. Mumblecore
has been tailing off as of late (though Joe Swanberg would
like you to think differently) and here’s hoping that this
is the Duplass Brothers segue in to something a little more
well, exciting.
The Reality:
Jeff, Who Lives At Home is perhaps the most
inspirational film about a bong-hitting stoner who loves the
film Signs that I’ve ever seen. Though I poo-pooed
the Duplass Brother’s decision to choose low-budget,
aesthetic lacking emotion over interesting plot
developments, Jeff, Who Lives At Home rides the line
of emotional earnestness and realism with a plot that has
events, though low key, occur and I found myself, at the end
of the film, a puddle of smiles. Jeff (Jason Segal) lives in
his mom’s basement, and since the death of his father has
been unable to muster, well anything. It’s a perfect role
for Segal (an actor I find one note), a brainy man-child
that bumbles through a series of coincidences (or omens).
His brother Pat (Ed Helms), is an exact opposite of Jeff, a
hard-nosed, seemingly brain-dead dick who mistreats his wife
and thinks the world is his oyster. Their day-long journey
to discover if Pat’s wife (Judy Greer, really slowly growing
on me) is cheating on him or not is so subtle and low-key in
it’s character development you can’t help but grow to love
both of the characters. Susan Sarandon plays the boys
mother, and all of her aging charm is on full display.
The Lesson:
The Duplass Brothers are growing in to their director shoes
and I’m excited to see what they do next.
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