Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Don't let the title scare you away, 'Jeff, Who lives At Home' is a deep character study about three unhappy people and the meaningless existences they each inhabit.

One such person is Pat (Ed Helms), a man stuck in a roller coaster of a relationship with his wife, Linda (Judy Greer). Pat has recently purchased any man's dream car, a brand new Porsche. Judy doesn't share in his delight for his new automobile, which only distances them even more. When Pat suspects Linda of having an affair, it leads him on a inept detective mysterious, where most of the films humor draws on.

Susan Sarandon plays Sharon, the mother of Pat. A widower, Sharon is very lonely and loans for someone to connect with. When a "secret admirer" begins sending her flirty messages, Sharon is delightfully surprised someone is still interested in her despite her age. It's up to Sharon to uncover this mystery person's identity.

The last chapter, the title character, is played by Jason Segal. By far the best part of the movie, Jeff is a slacker in his 30's with no real aim in life. After seeing the movie 'Signs' and having someone with the wrong number call him and ask for a Kevin, he believes it to be a sign. The rest of his arc delves into him following after all things tied to "Kevin," and the strange paths it takes him.

A common misconception I can see being falling into is that this will be a broad, raunchy comedy, like the ones Ed Helm and Jason Segal have headlined in their career. If you go into this film expecting that, you'll be disappointed. This is a thinking man's movie, with smart humor and likable characters sprinkled in. With your time.

"You ever feel like your waiting for forever to find out what your destiny is and when you do it's not really that exciting?" After receiving a phone call from a wrong number Jeff (Segel) thinks that the call has a deeper reason. His mom (Sarandon) calls and asks him to run an errand for him. What starts as a simple trip to a hardware store begins to evolve and change the lives of everyone Jeff comes into contact with, including his brother Pat (Helms). This is another movie that is almost nothing like the preview. The preview made it seem much funnier then it was. While this did have some funny parts in it I found this movie to be more sweet and heartfelt then I expected. Some of the aspects of the movie are very serious but they are done in a way that tone it down. Segel is just about the perfect choice for this role because there is just something about him that you find disarming and comfortable no matter what he is doing. If you are looking for a typical Segel comedy this is not it. This one has more substance and heart and is very much worth watching. Overall, if you liked "Everything Must Go" then this movie is for you. I recommend this but this is again not your average comedy. I give it a B+.

"Jeff, Who Lives at Home" is NOT a film for everyone. It is very indie in style and features mixed up characters who are difficult, at times, to like. It is far from the sort of thing you'd expect to see from Hollywood, that's for sure.

Jason Siegal stars as the title character. He's a 30 year-old loser--with no job and living in his mother's basement. He sits around smoking a bong and has little going for him other than, down deep, he is still a very nice person. Much of the film concerns him and his brother, Pat (Ed Helms) who is MUCH easier to dislike. Unlike the optimistic Jeff, Pat is caustic--critical and not particularly nice. Their mother (Susan Sarandon) is frustrated with her life...though she has a hard time recognizing this. By the end of the film, events have taken place that both bring them all together and get them all to reassess who they are.

As you can tell, this is certainly not a traditional plot. It's much more like a typical Duplass Brothers film--with realistic but highly flawed characters that you grow to like in spite of themselves. However, unlike one of their films, they apparently impressed someone with money, as this one has major stars and obviously cost much more to make. Not a brilliant film but there are many, many small moments that you'll appreciate. Also, it starts off VERY slow--stick with this one.

By the way, in a supporting part you'll probably recognize Steve Zissis from anther Duplass film, "The Do-Deca Decathlon".

This film is about a mother and her two adult sons, who experience varying degrees of interpersonal problems.

The first half of the film portrays a socially awkward Jeff, with his newfound infatuation with anything to do with Kevin. It looks like a pothead comedy, which I do not usually enjoy. The mood of the second half changes dramatically, as the characters get emotionally complex. Their emotional wounds get explored, and the film becomes touching and engaging. The ending is well built and climactic, and I find myself very touched by the heroic events. How each family member found emotional attachment is beautiful to say the least.

Though "Jeff, Who Lives At Home" may be a little boring at first, it is worth watching as the last twenty minutes are excellent.

Well, there are two ways to go about this movie. There's the way of a nice superficial 2 or 3 out of 10 and then you can actually try and understand it a bit. This was what I chose.

The movie is heartbreaking. It's kind of random and weird but if you go along and stick with it, you can see that this is a masterpiece. The problems it discusses are there more and more frequently the past few years. It's a movie of its time, and it touches all the sensitive issues.

It discusses about the alienation between family members as well as our inability to understand the different in all aspects of life, respect it and just nurture it. It also gets into the marital issues that drive so many couples apart. And although these seem a lot, and there are even more, it makes it. It gets you a small sample of everything, emotions flooding and leading you to maybe cry a bit but hopefully be a better person by the end of the movie.