Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: We're the Millers (2013) - Aniston and Co. shine in Thurber's hilarious road comedy

11/15/2016

We're the Millers (2013) - Aniston and Co. shine in Thurber's hilarious road comedy

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Comedy of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year

Four game stars pose for Rawson Marshall Thurber's We're the Millers

When a pot dealer loses his drugs and his money, he is tasked with smuggling in dope from Mexico by his douche-bag boss to make up for it. To do so successfully, he enlists three other destitute people and heads south with them as the 'Miller family'.

We're the Millers, written by Bob Fisher, Steve Faber (Wedding Crashers (2005), both), John Morris and Sean Anders (Dumb and Dumber To (2014), both), is the second film by great San Franciscan director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball (2004)). It is a surprisingly hilarious, well-paced road movie comedy.
We're the Millers is a real performers' movie: Lluis Guzmán (Rise of the Damned (2011)) has a funny cameo; Ed Helms (The Hangover Part III (2013)) is funny as super-douche bag Brad Gurdlinger; Kathryn Hahn (Wanderlust (2012)) and Nick Offerman (A Walk in the Woods (2015)) in particular are a riot as a camping enthusiast couple who the 'Millers' meet.
Will Poulter (The Revenant (2015)) enjoys a minor breakthrough being very funny as innocent 'son' Kenny. Jason Sudeikis (Drinking Buddies (2013)) has the part that would have gone to Chevy Chase if the film had been made in the 1980s, I assume, and he does okay, - although he is no Chase. Jennifer Aniston (The Switch (2010)), lastly, is in her ace as a comedienne (and still wildly enticing woman) here, and it is only adding to the all-around amusement that it's clear that everyone is having a ball doing the film.
We're the Millers breaks a few taboos in a funny way, and although it probably has a plot point too many, it is mostly unimportant, since the film hits its tone so well and is as funny as it is.

Related post:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 37 mil. $

Box office: 269.9 mil. $

= Huge hit

[We're the Millers premiered August 3 (Traverse City Film Festival, Michigan) and runs 110 minutes. Development of the film began way back in 2002, with Steve Buscemi and Will Arnett in talks to star at different points. Filming took place from July - October 2012 in New Mexico and North Carolina. The film opened #2, behind fellow newcomer Elysium, to a 26.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for an impressive, consecutive 7 weeks and grossed 150.3 mil. $ (55.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 18 mil. $ (6.7 %) and the UK with 13.4 mil. $ (5 %). Poulter won the Best Male Newcomer BAFTA for his performance in the film. A sequel is in development, tentatively set for a 2017 release. We're the Millers is rotten at 47 % with a 5.5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of We're the Millers?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)