Review of Jeff, Who Lives at Home - Jason Segal and Ed Helms are hilarious as quirky siblings.
Jason Segal, arguably the funniest everyman on screens both big and small, finds the perfect partners for his easygoing humor and self- effacing charms with filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass. Segal shines as the title character in the Duplass brothers’ latest comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home, playing an aimless, adult unsure of his place in life.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home, making its premiere recently at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), is a little sad at times in its depiction of the immature man-child but the laughs outweigh the heartache in Jeff’s life, a series of daily chores without a clear purpose. True to the Duplass brothers’ storytelling talents, Jeff, Who Lives at Home offers a fresh take on sibling friendship thanks to the grounded performances of Segal and co-star Ed Helms.
As the movie’s title states, Jeff (Segal) still lives at home with his mother (Susan Sarandon). He wears track pants, smokes weed and waits for his purpose in life to unfold before his eyes. Jeff’s trip out of the basement on an errand for his mom turns dramatic when he meets up with his brother Pat (Ed Helms) who suspects his wife Linda (Judy
Greer) of cheating. Jeff agrees to spy on Linda for his brother but he’s more focused on the importance of the name Kevin, which appeared to him earlier in the day as a wrong number and a TV commercial.
Segal is charismatic and funny as Jeff, a man-child without a care in the world. The How I Met Your Mother star makes great use of his bulky frame and expressive eyes, giving perhaps his most physical comic role to date.
Helms, an expert at deadpan comedy thanks to his supporting roles in The Hangover movies and TV’s The Office, brings an edge to the easygoing comedy as a selfish husband who finally changes his self- centered ways after learning that Linda may leave him.
Judy Greer is charming and lovable as the suffering Linda and Susan Sarandon makes every moment count as Jeff’s frustrated mom.
Still, it’s impossible to watch Jeff, Who Lives at Home without giving thanks for the talented Duplass brothers, long-admired for their 2005 Sundance film The Puffy Chair as well as Baghead, about indie filmmakers stuck in a cabin in the woods with an unknown stalker.
While the film claims its share of laugh-out-loud comedy, the Duplass brothers set their comedy apart with approachable characters, clever dialogue and a warm sibling friendship as the heart of the story.
After a summer of outrageous comedies each one trying to out-do the other, it’s refreshing to watch Jeff, Who Lives at Home delivers solid laughs without the need for one gross-out gag.
It’s been six since their feature-length comedy The Puffy Chair and a bit longer for their popular short films This Is John and Scrapple and it’s worth noting that nobody really talks about “Mumblecore” indie film movement anymore.
The Duplass bothers, like most filmmakers, move on and tackle different projects at a different scale than their previous movies.
Making a comedy for Paramount Pictures may seem like a bold next step for Jay and Mark Duplass. The constant between Jeff, Who Lives at Home and their early, low-fi comedies is their improvisational style of storytelling and good-natured laughs. Just because Jeff, Who Lives at Home is the Duplass brothers’ most mature movie to date doesn’t mean they lost the ability to make a good-time comedy.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Cast: Jason Segal, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon
Screenwriter: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Cinematographer: Jas Shelton
Editor: Jay Deuby
Producers: Right of Way Films
Running Time: 83 min.
Rating: TBD
Release Date: March 2012