Jeff, Who Lives At Home

I LOVE going to the movies.  Whenever I have some free time, I like to spend it at the movies.  There is always a huge list of movies that I want to see, so I never have trouble picking something to suit my mood.  The love of movies came from my Dad - we would see movies almost every weekend growing up.  I think it helped that Enumclaw had such a cheap theater, with tickets around $6 and affordable pop/popcorn/candy.

One of my favorite theaters in Boise is The Flicks.  See my blog post all about The Flicks here: #001 Best Place to Catch an Indie Flick in Boise. My favorite snacks are to get the herbed goat cheese with french bread (only $3) and huckleberry italian cream soda. Of course, about half the time I bring my own frozen yogurt, so I don't need to purchase any snacks.

Today I decided to go see a matinee showing of Jeff, Who Lives At Home.  The movie is only 83 minutes and I wanted to watch a fairly short one.  That way, I get the perks of a movie, but I still have time to go grocery shopping, hit up the library, and watch Desperate Housewives and GCB!

Jeff (Jason Segel) is a 30-year-old who lives at home in his mother's (Susan Sarandon) basement.  His brother is Patrick (Ed Holmes) a middle-class husband with a struggling marriage to his wife, Linda (Judy Greer).  Both brothers have very dissimiliar world views - Jeff looks for meaning in signs that the world provides him, while Patrick seems to care only of his own opinion.

The plot centers around Jeff following the signs from a mysterious phone call of a caller looking for "Kevin," and the adventure the two brothers end up on while trying to determine what Patrick's wife is up to wife another man.  There is also a subplot of Sharon (Susan Sarandon) and a secrete admirer (or a prank?) at her workplace.

This movie is genuinely funny, and one of those movies about life that I love (kind of like how The Descendants and Vicky Cristina Barcelona are about life).  Because of that, I thought it would have one of those slightly odd ends where the movie ends, life goes on, and there isn't much resolution.  Where you sit and think, "that's it?!?"

Jeff, Who Lives At Home, is not like one of those movies.  There is a great twist at the end and it has a really wonderful, all wrapped up ending.  They don't spell everything out for you, but I promise you will leave satisfied.  I was almost tearing up with an awwww kind of happiness, but no matter how you react, I completely recommend this movie.

Rotten Tomatoes agrees with me: 74% of critics liked it and 75% of viewers.  Roger Moore say it takes the Duplass brothers' art to a "newer, deeper place" and Rolling Stone says this film "hits you where you live."  Some who didn't enjoy the movie said that it "never quite got around to being funny" and another says, "It's short of that essential added spectacle, the visceral, tumultuous event that really shakes up the characters and creates a journey worth taking."  I disagree, but you should see it and decide for yourself.

Here is the trailer: