Grade (D)
A two-hour barrage of dumb humor that produces only minimal laughs.
“SISTERS”….. where to start with this one… I guess I should go into a brief plot breakdown to let you know what this one is about. T.Fey and A.Poe star in this one as sisters who despite going in different directions in life have held a strong bond. A.Poe is the sister who noses in on everything trying to help too much, T.Fey is a kid at heart who despite having a daughter, struggles with growing up and being a responsible adult. Their parents are selling the family home… cue the wild party filled with wildly generic antics, drug-use, and line after line after line after line of dumb jokes and forced comical dialogue, over the course of two-hours.
Both of these actresses are capable of being funny and have shined over the years on “Saturday Night Live” as well as other projects. Together they share a great chemistry and are easily able to play off one another to rouse high amounts of laughter. Despite being familiar with both of these comedic talents I will say that this is the first one of their movies I have seen. The result for me was highly disappointing, but not because I expected much. After seeing the trailer I knew after a couple of goofy-faced dance segments that the script would not be delivering, witty, groundbreaking humor. The disappointment was that with these two comedic veterans I would expect some higher effort into the films; writing, plot, comic direction, and on and on.
This felt like a cheap cash grab of a film, similar to anything with an Adam Sandler connection. Despite the aging cast, the tone of the humor was fit for teenage boys with one forced prepubescent joke after another. Nor did the film ever show the slightest bit of ambition into adding any creativity to the story formula. I understand that women can connect to the sisterly characters, but again the raunchy tone to the comedy that follows just does not fit. People of the age these characters are, will require a more clever, mature brand of humor to pass as an enjoyable film and this one simply does not deliver anything close to such. 
The plot although very generic, could still have resulted in a fun middle-aged comedy but in the end all it delivered was a bunch of fart, poop and sex jokes that 9th grade boys would find amusing. There were a few laughs over the course of this endless film, as well as a handful of chuckles. But the problem was there was just as many eye rolls and a few moments that can be best described as the following.
Remember when you were young and would watch television with your parents or grandparents, and a sex scene would come on and you immediately feel embarrassed over what you are watching. Just thinking in your head this is the longest 20-30 seconds of your life, just wanting it to end. This is close to how I felt watching these two stars force dance routines into the script whenever possible. Not to forget more goofy-faced, ridiculous dancing over the outtakes that play early on during the end credits. It was all gut wrenching, and simply lazy comedy.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are better than this film and I guess I was hoping this one would turn out to be more “Bridesmaids” and not a cheap “American Pie” style comedy. This one also has no business being two-hours long. For a script that takes a few comical styles and repeats them over and over the freshness wears off quick and time immediately begins to slow. In the end I simply was hoping for more wit out of this story and not generic raunch-com. Fans of Fey and Poehler may find some enjoyment in this but, they may also see the wasted potential.
– Starring –
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, John Cena, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, Greta Lee, Madison Davenport, Santino Fontana, Rachel Dratch
– Directed By –
Jason Moore
Time: 118 min
MPAA Rating: R (For crude sexual content and language throughout, and for drug use)
