Streisand and Rogen Bring Considerable Comedy Chops to a Lightweight Road Trip Movie
Aside from her near-cameo appearances in two ensemble comedies, Barbra Streisand has not starred in a movie in sixteen long years, not since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces which she also directed. Her output as an actress has been meager since around 1980 when she started directing films, building houses and returning to the concert stage periodically, so it was with both great anticipation and some trepidation that I saw this light-hearted 2012 comedy. What a relief to find she hasn't missed a beat in her sharp comedy timing. I think she's terrific as Joyce Brewster, the energetically overbearing mother of Andy, an organic chemical engineer who long ago moved to California and has recently invented a cleaning solution he is pitching to various store chains headquartered across the country. He plans a weekend visit with Joyce in New Jersey, but upon an intriguing discovery about her past, he invites her on an...
STREISAND AND ROGEN'S CHEMISTRY GIVES HEART TO THIS MOVIE
GUILT TRIP is a welcome change from most films Hollywood powerbrokers tend to finance. Like HOPE SPRINGS which was released earlier this year, this film is NOT the sidesplitting comedy one would expect to see from the theatrical trailers promoting the film. Instead it is a warm and endearing film focusing on a relationship between mother and adult son. This is one of Streisand's most subdued but convincing performances in years. She is not the larger than life persona we've seen in previous films. Rogen gives a nice performance as Andy, a character very unlike others he's created in past films. This is definitely a film I'll enjoy watching from time to time and sharing with friends.
A Instant Classic
I took my dad to see this movie. A couple years back I lost my mother, coincidentally my mother and I went to see A mirror has two faces the last movie she released where Barbra was the star. In one scene, halfway through the movie an incident happens and it changes the dynamics of this movie. Anyway, I sat there at the end when others were laughing and tears were rolling down my eyes. I can remember similar situations with my mother, I loved her but I'm also a gay male, I wasn't the only child but the distance between my eldest brother and I (I'm the baby) is 10 years. I also was the gay male so I can understand the story plot very well. Would I see it again, I have, this time alone, still cried at the end but it was a good cry. Now don't get me wrong the ending is not sad, but I loved my mother, she was my friend and as we get older they tend to become our friend, just wish I had more time with her. Excellent movie, really!
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