Road trip movies are often comedic, and when you throw in a dysfunctional family, there is little funnier. Think of our introduction to Clark Griswold and his family and their trip to Wally World. We’re the Millers is the dysfunctional “family” road trip to end all family road trips.
Of course, as opposed to National Lampoon’s Family Vacation series, the titular Miller family is a ruse for drug smuggling. Jason Sudeikis stars as David Clark, a low-level pot dealer working for Ed Helms’ obnoxious Brad Gurdlinger, an international drug kingpin. To make good for getting robbed of his weekly drop, David must go to Mexico and pick up a “smidge of pot” and bring it back to Gurdlinger.
David recruits a motley crew of acquaintances to play his family after witnessing a family barely get a second glance in their RV at by a policeman. His first stop is his stripper neighbor, Rose, played by Jennifer Aniston. After she refuses, he asks another neighbor, a young boy named Kenny, played by English actor Will Poulter. Kenny recruits a punk rocker runaway named Casey, played by Emma Roberts, to play his sister. After some makeovers to make the trio appear like the stereotypical suburban family, they board a plane for their trip. Predictably, Rose shows up to complete the family portrait and the adventure begins.
After picking up a luxury RV, the family drives into Mexico to a compound for Pablo Chacon, whom David believes is an alias of Gurdlinger. After picking up the aforementioned pot, which turns out to be a lot more than a smidge, the quartet becomes focused on making it across the border. Meanwhile, we find out that Pablo Chacon (played by Tomer Sisly) is not an alias for Gurdlinger, but one of his top competitors.
Along the way, while being chased by Chacon and one of his men, the fictitious Miller family meet the Fitzgerald family in line at customs and continually run into them along their travels. The parents, played by Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ Kathryn Hahn, with Castle’s Molly Quinn as their teenage daughter and Kenny’s love interest.
Supporting cast also includes comedy superhero mainstays Luis Guzman, Thomas Lennon, and Ken Marino.
The family’s early squabbling eventually turns into a bond, which starts to become more real as time goes on and each misfit finally feels like they have a place to belong. True families stick together, no matter what’s thrown at them, and they don’t necessarily need to be a traditional one to be real.
Jennifer Aniston’s continued string of raunchier roles has her re-defining her comedic career and has just about broken the good girl next door pigeonhole she was stuck in from Friends. As a stripper in We’re the Millers, she showcases her well-toned body, as well as her ability to marry her more wholesome self with her newfound potty mouth. Though the film does focus on her stripping for much of her early scenes, it also does a good job of showing what pigs the men she needs to deal with are and how she is a strong woman outside of using her sexuality to her advantage.
The film is funny, not only with its raunchy humor ala The Hangover, but also it is surprisingly satirical. Though there are some gags and jokes that don’t land, the audience overall will have a sore stomach the next day from laughing. Sudeikis and Aniston are re-teamed in the film, as they starred together in Horrible Bosses, which has a similar brand of humor. The story was written by Bob Fisher and Steve Faber, the same writing team behind Wedding Crashers.
There is a predictable sort of epilogue to the film, but with a sharp-witted side eye at the camera to let the audience know that things never really change. The outtake reel during the end credits is a must see, with a charming shout out to Aniston’s past.
We’re the Millers is a BenderSpink, New Line Cinema, and Vincent Newman Entertainment film, Rated R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and brief graphic nudity. The running time is 110 minutes.
