Ah, another comedy review. Again, there should only be one question asked when reviewing a comedy: Is it funny? The Campaign: no. The Guilt Trip: yes.
I can honestly say that I have never seen a movie with Barbra Streisand before, I don’t even think I could name one, minus this one. She was actually quite enjoyable in this. She plays the mother to Seth Rogen’s character and brings to it a real sense of motherly love. The fact that she’s actually a mother didn’t hurt and actually reminded me a bit of my mother, except my mom is way less funny (sorry mom).
Seth Rogen was actually bearable in this. Normally he’s overbearing and seems to be yelling at the other characters, but I don’t think he yells once in this movie. The most heartfelt, well I should say one of the most heartfelt scenes has him delivering his lines almost under his breath as he’s berating his mom for being, ironically, overbearing.
The relationship between Barbra and Seth is one of the best pieces of the movie. Dan Fogelman wrote this movie as a dedication to his mother and that really comes through the characters and the two stars seemed to understand that and their chemistry is amazing. Any man, and perhaps some women, will watch this movie and at some point say, that is so my mom, I know I did on multiple occasions.
There’s always some point in comedies where it is obligatory to dial down the funny and delve into some drama territory. The Guilt Trip is no exception, but where it excels is its shifting gears back into the funny, it also never really shuts the funny off, even during serious moments there is always some character bringing light to the situation.
One sub plot of the movie is Seth trying to set up Barbra with an old boyfriend, which is why she comes along with him on the road trip, although she doesn’t know this. Along the way she meets a real charismatic cowboy and they seem to hit off. One of the things I hate most is when movies make us choose between two characters that are equally good, see Sweet Home Alabama. I won’t give anything away because it’s kind of a twist ending and it is the emotional core of the movie, but you won’t have to choose which man she chooses and it’s quite a satisfying ending.
The Guilt Trip is a by the book comedy that doesn’t stand out too much, but it’s funny, enjoyable and truly heartwarming. This is a movie you should take your mom to.
7Â out of 11
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Check out the trailer below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXu3nfQ5qTE]
Watcher of movies. Writer of books. I love doing both and sometimes I even write about movies. Follow me on Twitter so you can keep track of my boring and uninteresting life @redsixx.
