Few comedy duos have such instant chemistry as Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Fan favorites from their days at Saturday Night Live, both went onto bigger and better things. Fey created the infinitely watchable 30 Rock while Poehler went on to help craft one of the best comedies ever in Parks & Rec. And they made a very enjoyable, quotable film together in Baby Mama back in 2008. The pair of fatally funny female comics return in Sisters, a comedy that sees them essentially reverse roles.
In this case, Poehler takes on the role of mature adult. As Maura Ellis, she starts off as the relatively uptight one. She has a steady job, a home of her own, and has been helping her parents and her niece. Her diary entries read more like historical logs, and she frets over anything out of place. Confrontation is not her strong suit, but neither is flirting - in which she is categorically awkward about. On the flip side, Fey as Kate Ellis is the kid who never grew up. Selfish, bold, confrontational, and loud, she lacks all of those things Maura has. She can't keep a job, she is essentially homeless, she can barely take adequate care of her daughter - who is independent in her own right by now.
The essential premise of the narrative is role reversal. There is the meta-reversal in Poehler playing the mature one while Fey plays the immature character. Then in context of the story, the plot itself calls for a reversal, in which Kate has to be "party mom" while Maura gets to cut loose, get drunk, and score with the hot guy next door.
Of course, the core of the comedy is in adults having a high school rager. Back at home as their parents try to sell their beloved house, the Ellis sisters decide to throw one last killer party like the ones they were famous for in high school. They invite all of their friends, who have aged equally. On the surface, it would be easy to interpret this as seeming like just another Hangover clone: a crazy party held by those you'd least suspect of having one, and you can't believe the things they do! Absolutely, that is a major aspect of the film. From drenching the house in soap bubbles to over-filling the pool to the point of creating a sinkhole, to destruction of walls, ceilings, and the huge tree in the backyard, it does have that aspect to it.
Yet it twists it a bit to make it more compelling and interesting. Instead of just making the joke, "these older people are acting like teenagers!" they instead play into something more meaningful. The reason these people are doing this is to remember life before they were miserable. At the start of the party, acting as adults, they engage in boring conversations that even the people doing the bulk of talking are clearly not interested in. By the end, they have all cut loose and got to be more their "true selves." It comments on the nature of "growing up," playing around with the line and balance of being "mature" and being "child-like." It essentially argues that people need to find that line to be truly happy. That abandoning everything you enjoyed doing in your youth just because society tells you to "grow up" isn't really that great. There aren't too many of these types of films that even start to explore any such concepts. (Consider The Hangover: what did it explore at all in the film?)
The jokes are solid, with a script from Paula Pell - a great writer from some good years at SNL and a frequent contributor to award shows. The ultimate strength of the film is its cast, however. While not terribly directed at all, it simply would not work without the central characters played by Fey and Poehler. (I'd argue that Amy Poehler is a substantially better actor than she gets credit for, simply nailing the humorous moments as expected as well as the emotional beats perfectly.) Their reputation as a duo enhances the film. It kind of rushes the connection between the sisters, but the moment they are together, we immediately feel a bond, in part because we know the actors have one in real life. It clicks immediately.
It is the cast of secondary characters that deserve a lot of praise as well. Maya Rudolph as the shunned Brinda is a pure joy to watch. Bobby Moynihan is memorably hilarious as the coked out lonely guy trying way too hard to be funny. Samantha Bee as the super drunk mom is great, and Kate McKinnon as the lesbian party expert is perfect (their only problems being that they aren't in it enough)! John Leguizamo's casting as the sketchy drug dealer Dave is spot on. Ike Barenholtz is surprisingly charming for a guy who is recognized for playing an idiot on TV. Greta Lee has one of the funniest gags as the nail salon Korean employee Hae-won. And Rachel Dratch will leave you wondering why she has not been in more things! (She was, without question, my favorite side character.) Shoot, even the muscle-headed drug dealer played by John Cena was good!
Some might be quick to deride the film for relying too much on a cast of established comedic actors, but that should not be considered a bad thing. Many classic comedies are built on having comic character actors knock it out of the park, and riding on them to make a great film. Sisters has more to it than, say, the new Ghostbusters film - which attempts a similar thing but doesn't quite have the quality of script or actor chemistry - but it still largely succeeds on the strength of its cast. All actors who, when all is said and done, might never actually get enough credit for their ability to create hilarious, layered, enjoyable characters.
To me, it was one of the better comedies of 2015. Doomed to fail at the box office because it opened against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but if you like those actors, and if you liked Baby Mama, then there's no reason you wouldn't enjoy Sisters.
REDUCTIVE RATING: Pretty Good
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