 |
| Tina Fey (left) and Amy Poehler (right) star in "Sisters," which was released December 18. |
Fey did not play her usual Fey. Her character wasn't high-strung, or anxiety-ridden but the complete opposite (see "30 Rock" or "Baby Mama" for reference). She plays Kate, a single mother who can't hold down a job and embarrasses her daughter for not having her life together. Kate peaked in high school and doesn't realize it and her younger sister Maura (Poehler) isn't much better. Maura has been been divorced for two years and spends a lot of time alone with her dog and plants. The characters, although funny and witty, are one-dimensional throughout most of the film, but change their ways by the end for a heartwarming Christmas scene.
Their parents sold their childhood home in Orlando and the sisters are pretty torn up by this fact. Cue me rolling my eyes at their women-children ways. When Kate sees the SOLD sign on the front lawn, she kicks the sign out of the ground, falls down, and starts throwing a tantrum in broad daylight. Maybe good for the trailer but it truthfully made me uncomfortable.
Kate and Maura want to throw one last Ellis Island (their last name is Ellis) party in their childhood home to say goodbye. It's a beautiful thought, really, but at 40+ years old do you expect to throw the same kind of party you did while you were in high school? They want to relive their glory days one last time, each girl reading from their adolescent diary and feeling nostalgic for the parties they used to have. The party starts out terribly boring, with their guests and old friends telling stories of their kids and surgeries. But we all saw the trailer. The party soon turns into overly-intoxicated and irresponsible adults partying better than they have in 20 years.
The movie, overall, felt repetitive. There were only so many times Kate's high school enemy Brinda (Maya Rudolph) could attempt to sabotage the party, first calling the police, then putting blue paint in the pool filter, and even attempting to fight Kate. The jokes were all the same. Kate is a failure. Maura needs to get laid. Both need to get their act together. I wouldn't act like this at age 20 so why are you acting like this double my age?
The sister-sister complex was the weirdest part of the movie for me. Why aren't my sister and I throwing parties at our house every weekend and encouraging each other to have sex with the guy down the street? That's how I act and talk to my friends. Maybe it's because my sister and I aren't in our forties and are almost four years apart but I've always said the big age difference is why we get along so well. The movie doesn't leave me reevaluating my relationship with my sister but it does leave me wondering what our (hopefully not) pathetic futures will be like.
The entire 2-hour movie felt like a "Saturday Night Live" reunion with the comedic likes of Bobby Moynihan, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Kate McKinnon, and, of course, the writing of Paula Pell. The movie depended on comedic stereotypes, like Moynihan playing a crazy drugged up impressionist with a failed comedy career, and John Cena playing a tough drug dealer with neck tattoos.
 |
| Fey and Poehler, Kate and Maura, respectively, shared a bedroom growing up and loved their home. |