WE'RE THE MILLERS

What happens when a bunch of misfits decide to pose as a wholesome all-American family so they can smuggle drugs? You get We're the Millers, a profanity-filled, predictable comedy.

David (Jason Sudekis) is a small-time drug dealer who winds up getting mugged, losing his stash, his money, and the money belonging to his rich boss, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms). Normally Brad would just have David killed, but Brad has an alternative: David travels to Mexico, picks up "a smidge and a half" of marijuana in an RV, brings it back to the states, and Brad will void what David owes, plus pay David a hundred thousand dollars.
Too bad David looks like a scumbag drug dealer -- until he realizes that no one looks at families twice, so he decides to hire a family. He recruits Rose (Jennifer Aniston), a stripper, to be his wife; nice-but-dorky Kenny (Will Poulter) and tough homeless girl Casey (Emma Roberts) pose as his kids. Together they become the Millers, head to Mexico, pick up the drugs (a few tons' worth), and return to the U.S. Unfortunately, the drugs belonged to Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley), a rival of Brad's who'll kill to get his merchandise back. It also doesn't help that the Millers keep running into the Fitzgerald family (Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn), who are as wholesome as the Millers pretend to be -- and that Don is a D.E.A. agent.

I suppose We're the Millers might have had some sort of commentary about what lies just beneath the surface of everyday society -- but the movie skips that for some very obvious laughs. There are numerous unbelievable action scenes, pretty obvious set-ups (such as stripper Rose not just performing, but with perfectly choreographed moves, lighting, and machines; or someone walking in on Kenny at the worst possible time), a tendency to use cursing as a substitute for jokes, and the sadly inevitable shift towards sentimentality. There are some funny moments in We're the Millers, but overall the movie is more coarse and obvious than amusing. Overall grade: C- Reviewed by James Lynch