​FILMS

sisters

Twisted sisters are doin' it for themselves.

2016 review number 13:

Sisters: (Comedy): 72 out of 100: The Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumni are back...well, three of them at least. If you like the sketches from that iconic show which has provided the movie world with comedic actors ranging from Steve Martin to Eddie Murphy, you should enjoy this raunchy, smutty and crude comedy. It's definitely not for everyone's tastes with jokes likely to offend conservative viewers. Just like comedy skits from these types of TV shows, some of the jokes succeed resulting in uproarious laughter while others produce a mere snigger or nothing at all. At close to two hours, the movie tends to overstay its welcome and could have benefited from a 15-20 minute edit to eliminate the jokes that didn't work. 

 

The titular sisters are Maura (Amy Poehler) and Kate (Tina Fey). Both Ellis women are experiencing setbacks in their lives. Maura is coming off a divorce while Kate simply refuses to grow up even though she is the mother of a teenage daughter (Madison Davenport). They don't need any more complications but another one arises when the Ellis' parents (James Brolin and Dianne Weist) Skype Maura to inform her that they intend to sell the family home. Maura's job is to entice Kate to return home and together, they must clean out their bedroom which has remain untouched since they moved out of home. When they discover that their home has already been sold and their parents are now staying in a retirement home, they plan a farewell party at their family home before they must vacate the premises.

 

There's nothing subtle about this comedy here, mainly vulgarity of the highest order. Since this viewer doesn't mind sex comedies, there wasn't anything offensive although it's easy to see why many people wouldn't like this movie. Dirty jokes aside, the story does have something to say about the family unit but luckily doesn't preach to its audience. 

 

Sisters occasionally feels like an extended sketch comedy show, albeit raunchy in nature. Jason Moore is the director and his only other directing credit is Pitch Perfect, which is tame compared to the humour in Sisters. Paula Pell is the writer who has mainly written gags for SNL so this is probably the main reason why it feels like sketch comedy at times. 

 

It might frustrate some viewers to see some overacting from several cast members to extend the life of a particular joke but that can sometimes be representative of comedy sketches. When the jokes do fire, the overstated gestures, expressions and voices actually help. Maya Rudolph is one of the actresses who fits in this category of overacting at times but when she pulls it off, she is absolutely hilarious. She plays Brinda, the childhood enemy of the Ellis girls who hasn't been invited to their party but gatecrashes it anyway. Another larger than life character is Alex (Bobby Moynihan), the nerd who runs rampant when he takes some drugs supplied by drug dealer, Pazuzu (John Cena). Watch out for Greta Lee who plays Hae-Won, the Korean beauty consultant who steals some of the laughs from her more illustrious co-stars. 

 

Poehler, Fey and Rudolph are the ex-cast members of SNL and they seem to be having a riotous time, with their antics pleasing viewers who enjoy this type of comedy. Don't take it seriously, open your mind and go along for the ride, you're bound to experience more than a few laughs and even more so if you're a fan of gutter humour.

 

Starring Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, James Brolin and Dianne Wiest

(118 minutes)

Parental advice: Coarse language, sexual references, drug use and adult themes

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, there are bloopers and deleted scenes during the credits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRnhEjP3R-c (Movie trailer)

 

(Reviewed on Tuesday 26th January, 2016)

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