JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME

Brothers kinda bonding

title: JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME
year: 2012
cast: Jason Segal, Ed Helms
rating: ***

Poor M. Night Shyamalan – his iconic twist ending from THE SIX SENSE was already outed in an Adam Sandler film, and now his SIGNS finale is detailed right off the bat by Jason Segel as Jeff, a pot-smoking underachiever who… that’s right… lives at home. But surprisingly enough this titular aspect has little to do with the story.

Feeling everything in the universe is connected, and after dialing a “significant” wrong number, Jeff ventures on an errand but finds himself involved in the personal life of his shallow brother Pat, played by Ed Helms, who has a brand new Porsche and a possibly cheating wife (Judy Greer, the cheated-on in THE DESCENDANTS). Investigating the tryst, both brothers tail Pat’s wife and her guy friend to a restaurant and motel. These scenes provide funny and suspenseful moments between two characters that couldn’t be more different.

On the peripheral, Susan Sarandon, as their office-working single mother, receives a string of secret admirer instant messages on her computer. Then, out of nowhere, both stories hit a sappy life-affirming wall. And yet, despite a cop-out conclusion, this indie film, like the main protagonist, has a scruffy heart in the right place. It’s just too bad the characters didn’t remain in the dark for longer.