The Guilt Trip (2012)

I looked forward to this film, thinking it would be a hilarious showcase of not only Streisand's talents but an expose of the difficult relationships between mothers and grown sons. I got neither. It was boring just a few minutes into it. I felt Mr. Rogen's acting was plausible and done well. However, hers was lackluster and not up to her usual standards. There were very few laughs at all. The difficulties of the relationship were not highlighted very much either. Some of the dialog was nonsensical to say the least. I also thought it ridiculous to have her considering 50 year-olds for dating and trying to convince us she was under 60; usually it's the other way around. All in all I was very disappointed in this movie and had to concur with another woman leaving the theater at the same time when she said "what a waste of time!"

Fmovies: Nice movie with strong, likable actors. I'd call it a holistic movie, it's so complete. The only thing missing from the movie is the point. Why on earth would I want to see another middle-aged man take his dear mom on a road trip? Marveling at why I don't take my mum on a lengthy cross-country trip in an uncomfortably small car hasn't really kept me awake at night. I'm not surprised that it might get awkward. Coz it's her motherly duty to make me feel awkward. My job is to stay the feck clear of her. That's called son-mom-dynamics. Unlike Andy, I did study on the other end of the country to get as far away as possible from my parentals. The quality of the institution had nothing whatsoever to do with it. If I'd had the choice to either study brain surgery in my mum's basement or to attend the Compton Council College for assistant janitors on the other coast, my job would have been as clear as a spring day in the Mohave. That's maybe not very nice, but it sure is healthy.

Also, the movie is predictable. When the Southron gentleman introduces himself to Joyce, we KNOW she won't get to meet her puppy love object in Frisco. And I was waiting all through the movie for Andy to finally drink his cleanser, knowing that this would be presented in the movie as a brilliant selling point, which it isn't.

Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are a great comedy team. In fact, the best part of Guilt Trip is when the credits are rolling at the end, and there are several scenes that the two of them apparently improvised during the filming. If the whole movie had been as entertaining as those outtakes, I would have given it a "10."

Unfortunately, the makers of Guilt Trip appear to believe that a movie requires a plot, and sadly, this one was clunky. For a comedy film to work, you either have to completely put reality aside (Blazing Saddles or Rocky Horror Picture Show), or somehow believe an unbelievable story (Airplane or the Blues Brothers). This film didn't fall into either category. The plot just wasn't strong enough to support the premise that any son would be crazy enough to take his mother on a long business trip with him, and there was no reason why he kept bringing her to all his business appointments. And his mother's nutty revealing of her deepest family secret, and her insane baby-naming system, were clearly tossed in just to provide somewhere for this film to go.

Don't get me wrong. I'd really like Streisand and Rogen to do another road trip together. But next time, let's just say that space aliens abducted them and forced them to travel together. And let both of the stars ad lib their way through the adventure. I'd pay to see that one.

The Guilt Trip fmovies. How is it possible that when you put together an esteemed actress with the ambassador of a new generation comedy that you get a second rate movie? For starters this film started off as a wannabe comedy. It was as if the cast were trying their hardest to make us laugh but it just did not work. The obsessive neurotic mother with the geeky kind of son was somewhat off for laughs.

Then the conversation developed, the story unfolded but despite the charm and warmth it conveyed as well as being engaging, it never really went beyond making the audience smile, so the supposed comedy never happened which is a shame as the ingredients were there.

Mama don't let your boys grow up to be cowboys or better yet organic chemist. In this fun tale you see Andy Brewster (Seth Rogen) is on a mission to sell his discovered organic cleaning product and find a distributor. In a caring move he invites his mother Joyce Brewster (Barbra Streisand) to come along for the eight day cross country trip. Most movies feature two guys or girls in a crazy road trip but never a mother and son. Freud was right, we all have mother issues and Andy finally deals with his overbearing mother as he sets out to discover his own identity. This movie is fun, touching, and is above the bond between mother and son. In the preview I saw I took my own mother and she enjoyed it. In a special live simulcast with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen they took questions about the Road Trip. According to Streisand, she was pursued by director Ann Fletcher for the role. It was not until she read the script out loud with her own son that she fell in love with the role. Streisand did a phenomenal job and you get the feeling that the role is way below her pay grade. They did accommodate all her request. All the scenes were shot within forty five minutes of her house in Malibu, California and she did not even have to drive. According to the pop diva, she has not driven for over a decade. She was also asked if she would ever like to take a road trip with someone and she said Marlon Brando. She did take a day trip with him once to check out the desert wild flowers once and had fun. When asked if Babs had any resemblance with his real life mother, Rogen said that they are both strong Jewish women but that his mother resembled more a past character that Streisand played in Meet the Fockers. His mother is a Jewish hippie type of woman. The Guilt Trip opens December 19, perfect for the holiday season and a fun tale of love, joy, and celebrating life. In the end it will make you appreciate your mother and the characters discovered that they were more alike than different.

At the beginning of the movie I would agree with some of the sentiments of the reviewers (see the scathing reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), however I stuck with it and was rewarded.

The second half really picks up and everything comes to frankly a touching and satisfying conclusion with great performances.

Which just confirms that many reviewers must have skipped out after only watching about 30 minutes of the movie and reviewed it based on the first weakest segment.

As the movie progresses the performances, the chemistry between Rogan and Streisand, the story and the comedy takes off and it becomes the movie you hoped it would be. It really has a heart, you just need to be patient for it to come along. Hang in there ;-)

Filmmakers take note - you HAVE to grab your audience in the first 20-30 minutes, especially if some of them are jaded reviewers watching screener DVDs that they might just skip if they get the least bit bored and publish a scathing review as punishment.