Jared and I received this DVD from Netflix about two weeks ago and still hadn't watched it. That happens with us sometimes. And now and again we end up sending the movie back without watching it at all. I didn't want it to turn out like that with this movie, and seeing that it didn't really look like we would have time, I decided to watch it with my friend Joanna.
The movie follows a family - younger brother Jeff (Jason Segel), older brother Pat (Ed Helms), and mother Sharon (Susan Sarandon) through a day in their lives. Jeff smokes a lot of pot and waits for the universe to guide him. Pat is passive-aggressive with his wife, ogles waitresses at Hooters, and generally seems to be selfish and self-centered. Sharon works a boring job and finds herself the object of the affections of a secret admirer.
I really liked Jason Segel's character in this movie. He played awkward and uncomfortable really well. I definitely squirmed in my seat a few times when he was doing something socially unacceptable like secretly pursuing a guy around a convenience store or trying to get a specific booth in an upscale restaurant in order to overhear other patrons. It's not all awkwardness and cringing though. There is humor, and excitement and even some poignancy. I have to say that I didn't enjoy his monologue at the beginning the movie, but otherwise I thought he did a bang-up job. It was nice to see him in something different.
This is definitely a slice-of-life movie. You follow these characters through a day with only some slight longer-term tie-up and in the end you can only wonder what will come next. It's meandering and starts off a little slow, but I would give it a chance - especially if you're a Jason Segel fan.
(The film also features Judy Greer as Pat's frustrated and neglected wife Linda and Rae Dawn Chong as Sharon's office mate Carol.)
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