Review of The Guilt Trip (2012) by Hansflicks — 04 Jul 2013

As an adult, being forced to spend an extended period of time with your mother can be a bit of an ordeal at the best of times. The Guilt Trip taps into this and transposes it into a road movie that survives the low points through the great chemistry between Streisand and Rogen, but falls just shy of being worth a second look.

There's a lot to like about this film, in particular the way in which the two main characters interact with each other. Very rarely do the scenes feel rehearsed in any way, which gives it the tangible feel of a genuine relationship between mother and son. This goes a long way in helping to identify with the situations that arise and giving a sense of investment in the outcome. On top of this, it pushes the more comedic elements to the fore, showcasing the observational humour, which is very on point much of the time. It's rarely enough to inspire raucous laughter, but will frequently leave you with a knowing smile as the experiences of Rogen's Andy strike a chord of recognition. However, at some points these experiences can seem a little too familiar, interspersing the more engaging sections with a hollow disappointment.

It's worth noting that Streisand puts in an impressive performance and is primarily responsible for the disarming honesty that some of the more dramatic scenes possess, but the movie treads a fine line between emotional content and cheesy sentimentality with varying degrees of success. On the whole, when it gets it right, it does so very well, but when it fails, it's very noticeable indeed. The soundtrack is the biggest culprit in this respect, giving some moments a much more contrived feel than they would otherwise have had. It's clear what the aim was in these instances, but it's piled on a little thick for my taste, and there were a few points that inspired a cringe. This is the major fault that drags the picture down as a whole.

The plot is simplistic, but no worse off for it. There's nothing spectacular, but it's functional, and has just enough substance to serve as the backdrop for the two protagonists to play off each other. The film also comes across as fairly low budget, which is fine, but there are one or two glaringly obvious uses of green screen that are conspicuous in their low quality. It doesn't ruin the flick, but I found it somewhat distracting when they put in an appearance.