Jeff, Who Lives At Home (Jay & Mark Duplass)

[Acapelli]

IMDb ('http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588334/')

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/9047/jeffwholivesathome.jpg

[Acapelli]

i liked this way more than i thought i would

[Mr. McGibblets]

I really liked all of the stuff with the two brothers. But whenever the film went to the subplot with Sarandon in the office all momentum died.

[Watashi]

I really liked all of the stuff with the two brothers. But whenever the film went to the subplot with Sarandon in the office all momentum died.

Pretty much. The entire film should have focused on Jeff and Pat.

[Derek]

I liked this way less than I thought I would. The Sarandon stuff was useless and the Jeff stuff is incredibly uneven - sometimes amusing, sometimes dipping eerily too close into Haggis/Crash territory.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

I liked this way less than I thought I would. The Sarandon stuff was useless and the Jeff stuff is incredibly uneven - sometimes amusing, sometimes dipping eerily too close into Haggis/Crash territory.

Pretty much this. I think the Duplasses' style is poorly suited to this broad of content. Or maybe that should be vice-versa.

[Acapelli]

the way i feel about this movie is basically the same way i feel about lil b. i can overlook it's flaws because the underlying message just resonates with me so much

there's a line from the latest lil b mixtape that pretty much sums up the movie and jason segel's character jeff: "This for everybody that/ They think so hard, man they thoughts be so deep/ And don't nobody believe 'em/ But I believe you."

[Acapelli]

what i'm saying is jeff is basically basedgod

[Pop Trash]

the way i feel about this movie is basically the same way i feel about lil b. i can overlook it's flaws because the underlying message just resonates with me so much

there's a line from the latest lil b mixtape that pretty much sums up the movie and jason segel's character jeff: "This for everybody that/ They think so hard, man they thoughts be so deep/ And don't nobody believe 'em/ But I believe you."

Is lil b that "I'm Gay (I'm Happy)" dude? That would have been so much cooler if he left out the parentheses.

[Acapelli]

Is lil b that "I'm Gay (I'm Happy)" dude? That would have been so much cooler if he left out the parentheses.
yeah that's him

[Pop Trash]

yeah that's him

OH SHIT he's from Berkeley :pritch:

[NickGlass]

Oh, I saw this a little while ago. Yeah, it's dumb. Really likable, but consistently bland. I like Segel, and he's perfect for the role, but the Duplass brothers have a way of nailing how to design a little indie comedy to feel totally generic.

[Pop Trash]

Sure it comes off as a poor man's I Heart Huckabees/Miranda July flick and the Duplass Bros. are aggressively amateur with their filmmaking (is that annoying crash-zoom now their lame 'trademark?')...BUT goddammit I found this entirely likeable on a purely subjective level. I was laughing/identifying with a lot of it and Jason Segel is pitch perfect for this character.

I wouldn't be surprised if they expanded Sarandon's role when she agreed to do it, just cuz they were in awe of Susan Sarandon, but I agree that her subplot is unnecessary. Nice to see Rae Dawn Chong is still on planet earth though.

EDIT: just watched the ending, ouch. That did get pretty Crash-y. Not sure why people still insist on this kind of connect-the-dots screenwriting.

[EyesWideOpen]

This was great. I really didn't care for The Puffy Chair but this and Cyrus have me interested in their future work.

[eternity]

"Movies That Exist"

[Boner M]

"Movies That Exist"
Cyrus, too (even though I kinda like it)

[slqrick]

Just caught this on Netflix. I liked it overall, but it got too schmaltzy for me towards the end with both the stuff at the bridge and the Susan Sarandon arc. The scene at the office with the sprinklers in particular felt like it was trying way too hard to be a "moving indie film moment."

I really did like Segel in the role though, and a lot of parts in the movie made me feel really happy, especially the last shot. I think Duplass understands existential struggle/being in a funk, and Segel's character is definitely the best written. Didn't really care for Helms.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Just watched tonight, would agree with most that, if it's a victory, it's a slight victory. Maybe the issue is that its coincidences feel so contrived and so frequently exist purely so the characters can keep interacting with each other - this doesn't feel like the universe doling out serendipity, it feels like authors who've written themselves up an excuse to streamlining their story. Does this entire movie take place in two square miles? That's the only way to explain how often characters just happen to see each other at crucial emotional moments. And those insufferable snap-zooms.

The standout for me was Ed Helms, who made his character unbearably shitty in the front half and just-as-dumb but more empathetic when we learn that he's 100% oblivious to the impact of his choices on himself and others. His dumb isn't a cover for his selfishness - he really is that ignorant of his impact on other people. Segel's a good match and foil for him. The Sarandon stuff felt hacky and predictable but starts well enough - I would've rather it wasn't Rae Dawn Chong as the secret admirer, because that felt obvious the second they have lunch, and Sarandon's character is making some big-ass choices about her own sexual fluidity in the span of half a shift at work. That felt too easy and big an arc.

tl;dr - Nothing great, but good-hearted and ably performed. Overcomes its significant contrivance and style shortcomings.