Jeff, Who Lives At Home (2012)

Jeff, Lives At Home (2011)

6/10

Starring

Jason Segel
Ed Helms
Judy Greer
Rae Dawn Chong
Susan Sarandon

Directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass

Jeff, Who Lives at Home is an indie comedy that, I have to add, is not one of the best I’ve seen, but it sure has some laughs. And although the cinematography could have been better (who am I kidding, could have been far better), the plot, though simple, was fun to watch unfold. The bogus life lived by Jeff makes you think he’s either a retard or had his brain stolen by aliens. Jeff also found a way to make you question why someone even wrote this movie, but as soon as you get the hang of all the characters, you’ll discover that the movie ain’t all that bad.

Won’t recommend a cinema watch, but will say if you ever catch this on TV, take the time to see it. This is also the first movie I’m seeing Ed Helms in other than Hangover and Hangover II.

The plot features the character Jeff (Jason Segel), who is inspired by the movie Signs (Signs is a 2002 science fiction film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Mel Gibson). He believes everything in life happens for a reason. After he gets a call, then another, to run an errand for his mum Sharon (Susan Sarandon), this live-with-mum 30-year-old man gets on an interesting journey that leads to him teaming up with his brother Pat (Ed Helms), and both get involved in unfolding an adulterous act, as Pat believes his wife Linda is cheating on him.

Though I’ve not seen any movie done by the directing pair Jay and Mark Duplass (who also wrote the movie), I do advise they work on their directing a little. Using a cast well-accustomed to acting such roles may have helped pass the message across, but the lines in the movie lacked professionalism.

I think the whole movie feels like somewhat of a college project, than a real life movie studio production. Which to me is why I rate it as good, because the effort feels legit.

Do have it at the back of your mind that the cinematography in this movie is not so great as I mentioned earlier, and there was unnecessary waste of screen time, it is obvious the writers had run out of things in some scenes. The acting done by the duo Segel and Helms was actually good. They made the best of the story and brought life into the movie itself, so it’s safe to say the reason anyone should watch this movie is not majorly because of the story, but because of the comedy fun Segel and Helms delivered.