Sisters
Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.
Cast
Tina Fey – Kate Ellis
Amy Poehler – Maura Ellis
Dianne Wiest – Deana Ellis
James Brolin – Bucky Ellis
Maya Rudolph – Brinda
Ike Barinholtz – James
John Cena – Pazuzu
Madison Davenport – Hayley
John Leguizamo – Dave
Trashy
Sisters is utter trash. From beginning to end, trash. For what it is the movie delivers the laughs at the right moments, but overall it lacks substance. The plot is extremely simple, but simple to the point of wondering why the directors even bothered producing a movie out of it. In a nutshell – two adult sisters receive news that their parents are selling their childhood home, and head straight there to clear out their old belongings. Whilst doing so, one of them suggests holding a party to officially say goodbye to their roots. Which happens. And gets messy.
That’s it.
That’s literally it; with a few scenes of smut thrown in. I sniggered during these, but they weren’t overly hilarious. Kate and Maura trying on clothes in a shop, or stocking up on party food in a supermarket.. such scenarios had the potential to be hilarious – all they needed were one or two golden one-liner’s or dry humoured moments – but they lacked any of these, and instead seemed to bumble along at moderate pace with moderate humour.
Outtake Onset
Due to Sisters being nowhere near as funny as I wanted it to be, I pondered outtakes at one point. As I sat there watching mundane scenes unfold involving two women, filthy language and stupid teenage-style antics in a living room, I predicted: “..outtakes will show during the ending credits. Sisters contains such crap humour and unfunny dialogue, that surely the producers will have to make up for it at the end. They’ll try and win the audience over by showing footage of the actors messing up their lines and finding it funny / frustrating, therefore ensuring a few last giggles from the viewers.”
..outtakes played during the closing credits.
Not only was I right, but I actually tutted and rolled my eyes as I turned my back on the screen and exited the auditorium.
This movie just wasn’t funny enough; Fey and Poheler made a good enough pairing but the script was awful, and smothered with disjointed scenes. One second you’re in the livng room watching Kate climb up the stone wall fireplace (because she used to do it when she was a kid. Hilarious enough of a reason, obviously).
Then suddenly an old school friend goes running past screaming whilst off his face on cocaine.
The camera bounces back to Maura as she forces her sexy neighbour into drunken conversation up in the attic.
Then you’re back to Maura.
Sitting watching Sisters was almost actually like being drunk at a party; where you get glimpses of random people as you stumble from one room to another. In the middle of a heaving dance crowd or sat with two drunken parents as they moan about their lives, scenes in this movie seemed to move from one to the other with broken fluidity. Without solid links as though a showcase of comedic improvisation moments. Sporadic moments are fine as long as they contain substance – unlike these.
The casting was a shame because although a genuine chemistry between the two women flowed, Fey and Poehler didn’t quite cut it. As a duo, they simply looked like two ditzy women on stage bouncing witty one-liner’s between each other. I wondered what it would’ve been like if Poehler was paired with Kristen Wiig; not only do the women look a bit like each other, but their comedic timing is practically the same (facial expressions, pauses, etc).
Other cast members were good – this movie brought together a bunch of complete randoms – as well as well known older actors – and managed to blend them well. Actors I’ve seen and never seen before lit up the screen, bringing fresh-faced comedy moments. This was good.
Certain parts of the movie didn’t make sense either; but not in a funny way – in an irritating way. Whether immature dialogue or exaggerated acting, these parts were just irritating. Kate (Fey) rolling around on the lawn in the front garden of her family home surprised me slightly – a grown woman acting like a baby was way too much for what should have been a simple scene. The only person to save the day was Maya Rudolph, who brought a character so refreshing and different to what she normally plays that she added an air of relief from it all.
Sisters is probably worth sticking on if you have absolutely nothing to do and fancy a trashy watch.
Otherwise, don’t bother.
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