Review of We're the Millers (2013) by Jacob G — 06 Oct 2014

For a paint-by-numbers comedy, We're the Millers smudges the lines just enough to be palpable without ever threatening to enter genuinely funny territory.

But it is strongly amusing enough throughout, with some scattered big laughs. It will probably go down better with the crowd that wishes they could accidentally stumble into a family--We're the Millers captures that wistfulness and never lets go.

The cast is solid, and they doubtlessly perform their roles the way the director wanted them. This is largely a good thing with the Millers, but side families get a bit too predictably 2-dimensional.

The movie as a whole engages in too much screen time, as this is a plot that should only occupy an hour and a half, but instead stretches to nearly 2 hours. Part of the problem is trying to squeeze in too many time-occupying side-plots, part of it is just a rampant inability to have quality control.

You can obviously do worse than We're the Millers if you're looking for a comedy movie, but it's definitely not a peak example of filmmaking. Still, the sentimentality makes it rather endearing.