A casa con Jeff

Jason Seagal is pretty funny dude ( Forgetting Sarah Marsal , Five Year Engagement , huh I just realized his movies have really long names ) but this movie is more than just a comedy , it is almost a life lesson . Ed Helms is fine and Susan Sarandon is , as always , splendid .

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.

"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".

Jeff, Who Lives At Home is a great example of an indie film. Jeff, a 30-year-old slacker, is searching for meaning in an aimless life, looking at pop culture references for a sign.

Jeff's journey may seem like a simple one, but his mission to buy wood-glue for a broken shutter is not dissimilar to Odysseus's epic return. The twist in the third act underscores the idea that within all of us lies a destiny. (Jeff, Who Becomes a Hero, as a title, would've given it away.) Jason Segel gives a great goofy charm to the lead character, and he is ably supported by Ed Helms as his obnoxious and insensitive brother. Susan Sarandon is faultless as the mother looking for a sign of her own as she suffers bleak corporate office cubicle.

Ultimately, this is not only a comedy about a slacker living in his mother's basement, but a hopeful look at family and what that word means. It starts slow, then reveals some wonderful surprises.

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.