FILM REVIEW: THE GUILT TRIP

Andy (Seth Rogan) and Joyce (Barbara Steisand) in The Guilt Trip.

 

 

Aged and never green

By Miranda Inganni

While visiting his mom, Joyce (Barbara Streisand), in New Jersey, Andy Brewster (Seth Rogan), learns that he was named after his widowed mother’s first love. Believing that he has tracked this man down, and trying to cheer up his mother -- who, by the by, seems perfectly content with how her life is, aside from her son living 3,000 miles away -- Andy impulsively invites her to join him on his cross country road trip. Andy has business meetings set up along the way to try to sell his invention: an organic cleaning product that is safe enough to drink. While Andy’s product may be a best seller, Andy is not the best salesman. His pitch is hard to swallow even if his product is not.

Directed by Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses) and written by Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) The Guilt Trip is a tepid, mediocre comedy set mostly in a car. I chuckled once. maybe twice. The idea that Joyce would be happier with a man in her life is boring and absurd. While she admits that her biggest thrill is shopping at Gap (decidedly boring), the only man she wants more of in her life is her son.

Streisand’s Joyce is a stereotypical, overbearing mom to Rogan’s underachieving son. As predictable as any movie can be, The Guilt Trip offers little more than a few chuckles. Considering the talent Rogan and Streisand possess, both actors deserve better material -- and so do discerning viewers.

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AUSTIN 2011: THE STAND UP

Zoe (Jonathan Hollis) in The Stand Up.

Miranda is dead. Boo who?

By Don Simpson

Zoe (Jonathan Sollis) is a stand up comedian who is desperately in love with his beautiful girlfriend, Miranda (Julia Dennis). Miranda dies suddenly, putting Zoe into a bitter and jaded state of depression. Then, after one year of being “Mr. Doom and Gloom”, Zoe finds himself forced to…ummm…teach kindergarten? That is right! But, luckily there is a super cute fellow kindergarten teacher, Veronica (Margarita Levieva). And, well, I think we all know exactly where the story goes from here.

But it is how it gets there that is pretty darn fantastic. Jonathan Sollis gives an excellent performance. Not only does he have a great rapport with the students, but he plays the formulaic role with utmost sincerity and naturalism. It also helps that Sollis is not your typical Hollywood hunk — he is more of an everyman. If The Stand Up were a big budget Hollywood film, Seth Rogen would have been cast as Zoe; and though I like Rogen, I guarantee that he would have amped the character up to 11. Sollis’ subdued approach to Zoe reveals great patience. He is also able to communicate a heck of lot of information to the audience merely with his eyes.

I typically fault writers and directors for making overtly formulaic films, but writer-director David Wexler’s The Stand Up is a rare exception to that rule. Heck, even “allergies” made my eyes mysteriously misty during the inevitable happy ending. Ugh! I really hate having my heartstrings tugged like that!

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