Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have been friends for a long time. They’ve made us laugh on the small screen, both when they’re together on “SNL” and as hosts of The Golden Globes, and separately on “30 Rock” and “Parks and Recreation”. But their big screen pairing as “Sisters” is easily one of the year’s biggest wastes of time.
It’s clear from the first five minutes that this project was simply an excuse for these two to work together again, and I bet they had a great time goofing their way through this ultra-bland comedy. It’s the rest of us who suffer. Nearly everything about “Sisters” is unimaginative and unfunny, from the title to such a basic story that a 3rd grader could’ve written the script – with help from an adult to insert all the foul language, drugs references and sex jokes.
Maura (played by Poehler) is a successful nurse in Atlanta, while sis Kate (played by Fey) can’t hold down a nail salon job or take care of her moody teenage daughter. The sisters head to Orlando to visit their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest – who also head the family on CBS‘ new sitcom “Life in Pieces”) and discover that mom and dad have decided to sell their childhood home. So Maura and Kate realize that they need to relive their youth by throwing one final, outrageous party in the house before it’s sold. That’s the plot. There’s not even enough here for a decent six-minute SNL skit.
Early on there are a handful of chuckle-worthy one-liners and situations. But once the big party kicks-in, it’s all downhill. “Sisters” is two hours long and the party takes-up more than half that time. If the jokes and gags were even mildly humorous, this could’ve been a mindless bit of escapism over the holidays. Instead, 99% of what takes place is REALLY embarrassing for the actors, uncomfortable to watch and just plain ridiculous.
John Leguizamo and “SNL” pals Bobby Moynihan and Maya Rudolph play old high school classmates and wacky guests, and John Cena shows-up as a drug dealer….and they all take-turns showcasing career-low performances …in fact, no one in the cast remains unscathed. Even secondary characters are victims of this mess of a script. There are pointless attempts to insert heart into the predictable finale, and, of course, closing credits bloopers – always a desperate sign that the producers (Fey and Poehler among them) realized the movie they’ve made isn’t funny, but are hoping to leave the audience laughing with outtakes. Problem is: even these aren’t good.
Clearly Fey and Poehler suffer here from the Adam Sandler syndrome: rounding-up a bunch of their pals who they think are funny and hoping they can turn a really bad idea into a really good movie. In fact, they should have called this: “No Grown Ups”, and that would have been the most creative thing associated with this film.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Sisters” gets a D.
Running Time: 118 min.