The Adults

In dreary 'real life' hipster drama "The Adults" Michael Cera revisits his cold, drab NY state hometown where he'd rather play poker with strangers than reconnect with sisters Hannah Gross (between he & whom there are issues since their mum passed 5yrs back) & Sophie Lillis (who's apparently always idolised him (tho who knows why)). Over its 1hr 31mins (that seems longer) the siblings awkwardly communicate in in-jokes, silly voices and (most cringe-worthily) self-written song & dance routines that they used to do at Christmas etc. It may mean something to writer / director Dustin Guy Defa, but to most anyone else it'll be an excrutiating bore. Flush.

Really interesting to see the mixed opinions on this. I really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful portrayal of sibling relationships, and so much in the movie is in what's unsaid. This can sometimes be frustrating in movies like this but there's so much depth in the characters and performances from the three leads that you can feel their complexities and pain, but also the unique connection they have. Reminiscent of the also great Skeleton Twins. I think it's currently really underrated on here and I'm glad I decided to watch it, based purely on a clip of Michael Cera's (excellent) Tony Soprano impression.

Did Michael Cera lose a bet? My new least favourite movie. So odd, so so bad. A steaming pile of art that missed the canvass. Soulless and irritating. After the first 20 minutes I kept watching out of pure morbid curiosity for how it could possible end. It says the runtime was one hour and thirty one minutes, but the second and third acts just barrelled on for what felt like weeks. I aged watching this film. I need two hundred more characters for this review, so I'll finish by listing things I'd rather watch: paint dry, puppies cry, YouTube videos of 1990s commercials, promotional videos for timeshare condos, the Montreal Canadians.

'The Adults' is about as flat as films come. Very rarely does a scene have a pay off in this movie. Characters just interact in a fairly unusual and dis-interesting way and then the scene ends and we move on to the next interaction. Repeat for 90 minutes.

I'm always interested in how poker scenes are handled in movies. They are rarely handled well, but for the most part they were especially sloppy in 'The Adults'. We are often not shown the cards in the hand and yet we have to listen to the characters talk about them as if we have seen them. They are also done in a very bizarre manner where people say things during the hand that make no sense whatsoever and don't fit their motivations.

The movie finished and I realised I hadn't felt a single thing during the movie. I wasn't interested in the relationships, I never found it funny, I never found it sad. I simply felt nothing. This one was a miss. 4/10.

A weird trio of siblings that simply don't know how to communicate or never got the opportunity to grow up and relate to each other in a different, more meaningful way than that when they were little children.

Other than that, the seemingly endless stream of drama that comes from these people's trauma and unresolved issues just occupy the screen almost 100% of the time.

There is no history to be told here, no character development, no proper light and shade, no dynamic that makes watching this even remotely tolerable.

I would recommend avoiding it, as there are so many better alternatives to do with your time out there - better movies and activities alike.