The Adults

I love Michael Cera's work and really rate him as an actor and his taste in projects. He is always interesting.

This film, although a long way from what we usually expect from him was still a good effort. This film is straight up family drama, not a comedy. It shows the quirks and reality of a trio of siblings left without their matriarch and patriarch to find their own path in the world, as they develop their own quirks and flaws as individuals apart from each other. The family house is still there, and the remnants of the siblings routines and mannerisms they developed as they grew up together, now apart.

Cera's character has developed an obsessive card game addiction, and we see this through him fobbing off friends and family in order to get his gaming fix, Sophia Lillis's character had drifted along with her frail quirky character and Hannah Gross's character had pulled back into her shell, still damaged by the loss of their mother and trying to find her path.

The movie was well made and acted and I appreciated the non hollywood approach to the film-making as they made a very real, honest, recognisable portrayal of family dynamics and human failings.

If you were looking for some light relief with good Cera style humour this isn't it, but you can admire and acknowledge the good small movie this team have created. Cera wears the same clothes throughout, the house is realistically spartan, the family show love and failings believably, and the messages are subtle.

Such a movie is simply necessary to bring your personal psychological state back to normal. It is like a magic balm that helps in this soulless digital world to understand that you are not completely stale yet, that you can still feel and empathize. Previously, there were many times more such paintings, but now it is a rarity and it is a real crime to pass by it.

The plot is unpretentious, but the very history of the relationship between a brother and two sisters does not require otherwise. Eric (Michael Cera) and Rachel (Hannah Gross) make scenes for each other throughout the film, and poor Maggie (Sophia Lillis) finds herself between two fires, while trying in every possible way to reconcile them and terribly worried that nothing will come of it. The early loss of parents still leaves a mark on all this. Eric is a complete gamer who absolutely does not know how to lose, Rachel cannot leave the betrayal of a loved one in the past, Maggie dropped out of school and cannot decide what to do next in her life. Everyone has problems, and against this background, a meeting of brothers and sisters who have not seen each other for a very long time could help them all. But communication after a long break is not easy at all. And all because they have become adults. Only a passion for poker makes Eric postpone his departure over and over again, giving hope to Maggie that everything will work out.

Separately for Maggie - this character was as if specially written for the wonderful and inimitable Sophia Lillis. It seems that she does not play, but simply behaves as she does in life. I can't remember a greater immediacy in the frame. She can joke merrily, and in a second lower her head and sadly lower her blue eyes to the ground. The role is played superbly, because you are only worried about her throughout the film, the problems of her older brother and sister, coupled with personal disorder in life, greatly undermined her psychological state.

A very touching moment at the beginning of the film, when Eric came to Maggie's house in the morning and said that in order to communicate with her and Rachel, he would stay for another day. She cried and buried herself in his chest, and it was so natural that tears welled up in me myself.

Yes, the movie is not without its drawbacks, but I personally really liked it, the ending is warm and pleasant. This story makes you remember that your relationships with loved ones are also, to put it mildly, far from ideal, that you need to love and protect your relatives, because there is nothing more important than this.

9 out of 10

For a good, helpful story and the lovely Sophia Lillis.

Another slice of life movie with no plot or direction or ending. This seems to be all the rage these days amongst cerebral directors and writers.

Perhaps this is how Dustin Guy Defa grew up with his siblings. Who knows. It's all very well to regurgitate your adolescence but it still needs to be engaging for it's audience.

This film will polarize people between those that think it's quaint quirky and unique and others who find it unrelateable. I fall into the latter camp. It never quite hits the mark. You come away feeling empty and confused as to what was the point of it all.

There was one scene I thought was well executed. Without giving it away it involves Ceras character cleaning up at the poker table by out bluffing his opponents. The juxtaposition of what happens when he leaves the venue is fascinating.

Ps this is 10% comedy and 90% sibling drama.

I never had a secret cartoon voice with my brothers growing up. But I was fascinated by the quirky relationship between the three siblings in "The Adults". I took a gamble on the movie, because Sophia Lillis was in it, and I remembered Michael Cera from Juno and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Seeing Michael Cera as an adult was sad. His sister Rachel was nicknamed Mopey Mopey, but Michael's character Eric was the one who moped around the whole time. He looked beaten down and barely squeaked out an emotion. This was juxtaposed to Sophia Lillis' character Maggie who had no problem showing her emotions. Since Michael's depressing character, Eric, was the protagonist, I had trouble getting through a number of his scenes, including most of his scenes when he was gambling in the shady backroom poker games. It was hard for me to see the man he had become after both of his parents died. From personal experience, after my mother passed away, it was hard to get the brothers back over for family dinners very often. Life got busy, and mom wasn't there to bring everyone together anymore. I see this with the three siblings in the movie.

The best parts of this movie were watching the three siblings reconnect through their cartoon language and their musical theater routines. Those elements felt real to me. My guess is that the writer based these on actual experiences. The longer Eric stayed with his sisters and fell back into his childhood world, I think the better adult he became. His sisters seemed to improve their disposition the longer he stayed with them also. It was interesting watching Rachel try out her cartoon voice with a co-worker who didn't get it. She was becoming more of herself, and perhaps eventually others will start appreciating her creativity. My older brother is the practical joker. He's also a very creative person as a writer. As a grandfather, he is teaching his 3-year-old granddaughter all kinds of annoying habits that he was laughing about, such as telling her that her dad went bald because a squirrel came and ate his hair. Perhaps he said a skunk came. I often block out what my brother says! Then, he gets a call from his daughter asking what he's been telling his granddaughter. She was asking her dad about the squirrel who came to eat dad's hair and if it was coming back to eat her hair! My brother thought this was hilarious. My brother is 72 years old and still not what you would call an adult. Perhaps we never grow up or if we grow up too much, it doesn't hurt to remember what we were like as kids.

This was by no means a perfect movie, but if you enjoy watching strong acting performances, I recommend it. It was another great role for Sophia Lillis. And I'll give an honorable mention to Mopey Mopey, Hannah Gross. I believed her, and by the end, I felt for her character. I wouldn't mind visiting with the siblings again one day to see their newest song and dance routine!

I made it halfway through. Not only is it a very slow slice-of-life film, the main character (Michael Cera's Eric) is so repellent, I just didn't want to spend any more time with him. He is inconsiderate, self-absorbed, cold, oblivious, and shallow. He blows off all these people who made plans to spend time with him in his rare visit, with barely a 'sorry.' Both of his sisters are obviously suffering, and he doesn't even seem to notice, let alone care. He even scolds the one who adores him. At one point, he shows what really matters to him (and it's not anyone else), and asks her why the other sister 'hates him.' The short answer is that he is just a JERK. The real question is why there is anyone in his life who actually tolerates him.