Plot
Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
Release Year: 2011
Rating: 6.8/10 (481 voted)
Critic's Score: 60/100
Director:
Jay Duplass
Stars: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer
Storyline Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
Writers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Cast: Jason Segel
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Jeff
Ed Helms
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Pat
Susan Sarandon
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Sharon
Judy Greer
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Linda
Rae Dawn Chong
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Carol
Steve Zissis
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Steve
Evan Ross
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Kevin
Benjamin Brant Bickham
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T.V. Pitchman
Lee Nguyen
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Clerk
Tim J. Smith
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Guard
Ernest James
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Guard
David Kency
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Teammate
Raion Hill
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Thug
Zac Cino
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Gil
Lance E. Nichols
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Elderly Man
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Phone (O.S.)
Taglines:
The first step to finding your destiny is leaving your mother's basement.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home starts out by referencing a film from 10 years
ago. The main character, Jeff, speaks about his love for the movie
Signs. That movie was all about signs being sent to us and that we must
use those signs as guides for living our lives. This becomes Jeff's
mantra for how he lives his life. These signs haven't been getting him
anywhere as of yet though. He's a grown-up slacker who still lives at
home with his mother as the title of the film says. It's this bohemian
free-spirited attitude that has led him to where he is. He seems at
peace with things, yet something is missing from his life. His brother
Pat is the opposite. He's married, has a job, and even just bought a
new Porsche; he doesn't believe in slacking off like Jeff. That doesn't
mean everything is going well for him though. He really didn't have the
money to comfortably afford the Porsche and you can tell that his wife
isn't happy about it. But Pat lives in the moment. While showing off
the Porsche to Jeff, they see his wife with another man and start to
suspect she's having an affair. Even though these two brothers don't
generally get along and seem to despise each other a little, Jeff
agrees to help Pat out and find out what's going on. Along the way,
they begin to learn about each other and their different ways of
approaching things. Pat always thought he had his life together and
looked down on Jeff. Now's he realizing that maybe Jeff had a better
way of looking at things. Jason Segel and Ed Helms play the 2 brothers
and make the best of their roles. There's also an interesting sub-plot
about what's going on with their mother (Susan Sarandon) at her job.
The movie is part of a recent genre of film called "mumblecore" which
generally have low budgets and focus more on the dialogue - sort of
like a Quentin Tarantino film without the action. Luckily, the dialogue
here is very good and holds your interest throughout. At less than an
hour and half (which is very rare nowadays), it doesn't meander at all.
It focuses on how we spend our days and seems to have a message of
living more carefree. But there are plenty of laughs throughout the
film which make it very enjoyable.
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