Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have been making themselves the go-to female comedic duo over the last few years, showing up in different movies, famously hosting Weekend Update on SNL, and being at the center of The Golden Globe Awards. Their newest film Sisters goes right to the bottom of the barrel in comedy and scrapes the sides clean.
This is the story of two sisters, with Kate (Tina Fey) being the older of the two. She has a teenage daughter (Madison Davenport) but the rest of her life is a gigantic mess. She can’t keep a job nor keep a home. Younger sister Maura (Amy Poehler) is just the opposite. The newly divorced woman is OCD to a challenging degree. Everything in her world is in perfect order, which Kate sees as a problem. The plot gets going when Maura gets a call from her parents (James Brolin and Dianne Weist). They have decided to sell the family house and want Maura to come home to Orlando Florida and clean out her room. She calls Kate and convinces her to come home as well.
Once in Florida, the two quickly bond and begin to compare their lives. Kate realizes that Maura needs to cut loose a little and decides to throw a raging party in their parent’s former house. That is pretty much it for a plot. The last two-thirds of the story is the giant party with a bunch of middle-aged people cutting loose. The last third of the film hinges on a plot point between Kate and her parents which changes her thoughts about giving the house a proper and raunchy send-off. Kate tries to shut down the party while Maura ramps it up.
Both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have proven that they can do excellent work as individual performers but they are best when working together. Time and time again they play off each other, tagging the other’s joke lines as if they were people who have been around each other a number of years… just like real-life sisters would act. This is very much an R-rated film and that could be the only problem with some in the audience. It is full of F-bombs and just about every other dirty word in the book. There are many drawn dirty body parts on the house walls and loads of drinking and drug usage. Those who are easily offended should avoid this film at all costs, it is not for the faint of heart.
Director Jason Moore doesn’t seem to have much control of his talent. It feels like the two leads are riffing on the material and not being guided by a forceful hand. Time and time again it comes across as if all the director did was set up the camera and let his two ladies just fly low to the ground. Not everything can be fixed in the editing room. That said, Sisters is perhaps the funniest film that has been screened in a long time. Jokes fly off the screen from just about the first frame and even when they fall before they hit the first row, another joke pushes it to the side. It ranks up there with Airplane! in sheer amount of jokes attempted, but it is nowhere near the greatness of that comedy classic.
Another important element is in the casting. Just about every member from former and current casts of SNL are here, such as Maya Rudolph, Bobby Moynihan, Rachel Dratch and Chris Parnell who all make an appearance in small roles. The starring two ladies seem to take care of their former co-stars. On leaving the screening I kept getting déjà vu. When I was in college at The University of Texas, my roommates and I would throw a massive party that lasted the entire weekend. It was more like Sisters than I would every care to admit, with massive amounts of drinking and destruction. People from Houston and Dallas would trek up to three hours just to make it to this Bacchanal experience. For those wishing to re-live that kind of vibe, check out Sisters. Like all true great parties, it is not an experience for everyone… just the fun, carefree people.
