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!
