[rating=3.00]
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would deny that, individually, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are two of the finest comediennes working today. They’ve each found success with high rated network sitcoms and stints on SNL. It was on SNL, in fact, where the two first gained wide success as both performers and partners. While they don’t often work together these days—with each of them off doing their own things—whenever they do get together, the magic is palpable. Together, they co-starred in 2008’s Baby Mama, a sort of odd-coupling affair that was funnier than it ought to have been and they later co-hosted the Golden Globes in 2014 to widespread acclaim. It was this acclaim, which reminded everyone just how funny and charming the two are when they’re together, that renewed those perennial calls for the actresses to do something, anything, together again.
Which leads us to Sisters, the latest outing from this powerhouse comedic duo and a powerful reminder that delightful chemistry and innate charm are never enough to carry a film on their own. It pains me to say it, but even as wonderful as it was to see the two share the screen once more, there’s little about Sisters worthy of attention. It is, at best, a painfully unfunny and brutally long film that feels less like it was written so much as it was cobbled together haphazardly from scenes that would have been better served left on the cutting room floor.
As its title suggests, Fey and Poehler play sisters—Fey is Kate, a directionless adult loser whose life is so not together that she hardly cares or notices when it gets worse; Poehler is Maura, a well-meaning divorcee whose perfect existence belies her boredom induced unhappiness. (As a note, it’s interesting that this is the exact opposite of their roles in Baby Mama, proving, if nothing else, the versatility of both leading ladies.) When their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) sell their childhood home, the two travel to Orlando to clean out the room they shared as kids. Reunited and fueled by nostalgia, Kate and Maura plan one last, raucous, blowout party in an attempt to relive their youth.
It’s a solid, if not trite and overdone, premise that really only exists as an excuse to get Fey and Poehler together again. Given the right material, these two can make just about any premise hilarious. The problem, then, comes from the material. Written by Paula Pell (former SNL and 30 Rock writer), you’d think that there’d be plenty of workable material in here to allow Fey and Poehler to shine. You’d be wrong, however. Sisters attempts to find its humor in places where none exists, playing off the ideas that if it’s funny when men do it and if it’s funny when teens do it, then it’ll be funny when 40-something women do it. Of course, it’s not particularly funny when men or teens do it, so it’s not particularly funny here either.
There’s little, if any, wit to be found in Pell’s screenplay, which meanders through clichéd jokes and devices to the point of sheer tedium and completely wastes the talents of its stars—both as individuals and as a team. Poehler is too uptight to flirt! That’s funny, right? And look! Fey is so loose that she’ll let her bra hang out and flirt as a joke! Hilarious yeah?
No. It’s really not. But those are the kind of jokes and the kind of humor you’re in store for here, and it just goes on, and on, and on. There’s even a running bit about a guy who’s unfunny and makes jokes that aren’t funny as a running joke. I suppose the attempt was to make it so unfunny that it circles back around to the point of funny but the effort is as miserable as it sounds. It’s not anti-comedy, it’s just not comedy.
Which is a shame because, as ever, Fey and Poehler are a delight to watch and it certainly looks as though everyone had a blast making the movie. But just like how listening to the stories your of friend’s wild party isn’t enough to give you the full party experience, watching Fey and Poehler having a blast doesn’t translate into you having one also. Rather, it was like being invited to a party by a friend of a friend, getting there and realizing you don’t know anyone, and then standing in the corner awkwardly all night after several attempts to mingle with people who wouldn’t notice if you never came.
I’ve no doubt that many will be charmed by Sisters but, to my mind, maybe this is a party you’d be better off skipping. If I didn’t know better, I would almost suspect that the studio is hoping you’ll do just that as it seems as though they’re doing their damnedest to make sure this stays buried and forgotten. After all, why else would they release it in the same weekend as Star Wars? More than likely, the studio knows they’ve got a stinker on their hands, and they’re hoping that the hype for the one will overshadow the other. That’s probably for the best, as everyone involved would be better off just moving on as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Too bad, because Fey and Poehler are so much better than Sisters would have you believe.
Sisters is now playing in theaters everywhere.
