Review // Sisters

[projekktor id=’22505′]

Abbott and Costello. Pryor and Wilder. Cheech and Chong. Fey and Poehler. Ever since they got their start at Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have built a reputation as one of the most effective comedic duos of their generation. But their work has largely been seen on the small screen, either on SNL or in their recent string of hosting gigs at the Golden Globes. 2008 saw their first big screen outing, Baby Mama, hit theatres, and now they’re back in Sisters. Directed by Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) and written by legendary SNL writer Paula Pell, the film is powered by Fey and Poehler’s familiar repartee, which you’ll find hilarious and entertaining if you’re a fan, but might turn you off if you’re not.

The film begins with the Ellis sisters living two very different lives. Poehler plays the younger sister Maura who is a recently divorced nurse living in Atlanta with her dog Polenta. Fey plays the older sister Kate, who has lived a more eccentric life and currently shares an apartment with her far more responsible daughter Hayley. When their parents decide to downsize and sell their home, the siblings are summoned to Orlando to clean out their room so the new owners, the Geernts (great name), can renovate. In the piles of childhood nostalgia the two dig up their old journals and share some of their entries. Kate’s are full of boys and make-outs and exciting adventures, while Maura’s are highlighted by rock tumbling and other rather lame experiences. They quickly decide that to make up for Maura’s neutered adolescence they’ll throw one last “Ellis Island” party for all of their school friends. Kate agrees to be the party mom so that her younger sister can let it all hang out and flirt with the single handyman down the street, played by The Mindy Project’s Ike Barinholtz.

The bulk of the film takes place during this late night rager and features cameos from familiar faces like Rachel Dratch, Bobby Moynihan, Kate McKinnon, and Samantha Bee as former classmates. Maya Rudolph plays Brinda, a former friend of Kate’s before their relationship went south, and John Leguizamo does a great job playing Dave, or “that guy from high-school who never grew up and will still hook you up with drugs and alcohol”. These secondary players all have their moments, but in the end it’s the Fey and Poehler show, and the two bounce dialogue off of each other with their usual aplomb. I couldn’t help but feel a similarity to Baby Mama, but with Poehler playing the straight-laced lead while Fey plays against type as the crass, hot-headed one. That might be why I wasn’t completely blown away by Sisters. Is it funny? Absolutely. Is it new? Not so much.

If there’s one thing about watching a comedy in a packed theatre, it’s that it allows you to crowdsource a general opinion. The film had everybody laughing throughout its two hour duration, but the biggest laughs came during the extended scenes that were used for the trailer, like the pair shopping for dresses and not really pulling them off, or Barinholtz falling on a ballerina music box during some clumsy sexcapades. If you like that kind of comedy and are otherwise a fan of the work of Fey and Poehler, then you’ll definitely enjoy Sisters. For everyone else, it will make for a nice diversion when Star Wars fatigue sets in, but don’t expect anything revolutionary.

Reviewed by Kyle Miller.