We're the Millers (2013)

Okay, this seems like just another goofy comedy, but it's pretty great. It's funny, has lots of fun twists, and some good comic lines. But more than that, it creates a kind of intimacy and sense of real family (a sense of it) that makes you realize what family is all about. Yeah, unlikely, I know, but it works. When the two "fake" parents start to act like real ones, it's funny but also moving.

Who woulda thought?

It's hard to say who pulls this off—clearly the "parents" are terrific, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. And the two kids are pretty good too, if clichéd. But what makes it all happen is the breezy comic writing. The basic set up is filled with clichés, and you have to like corny humor to really enjoy the play on these. So there are drug lords and immigrations officials. There are dorky RV tourists and clueless bystanders everywhere. But kick back and don't' expect too much and be surprised.

And don't miss the bloopers in the final credits. Among them is a great moment where they play the theme to "Friends" on the RV radio, and it seems to catch Aniston by surprise. Group admiration.

"We're the Millers" is a stoner comedy, except better than that because it's written as a family comedy - well, inappropriate family comedy. Oh, and it's actually funny. All of the main and supporting actors keep bringing the jokes so you can over-look the ridiculous plot. David (Jason Sudeikis) is still a pot dealer, even though he's 20 years past college.

Two teens in need of parental figures screw up his simple drug-dealing lifestyle and now he has to smuggle a load of marijuana across the border. A fake family should be the perfect cover to fool the hapless border guards. He hires the two teens and his sexy neighbour, Rose (Jennifer Aniston),who is working as a stripper, even though she's more than 20 years past college.

The comedy builds slowly, but then a fake baby (let's call her Mary Jane) enters the picture and the laughs come fast and furious. Some jokes weren't as funny as they thought (their new friends' sex acts),but by this time our fake family has connected with one another and the audience, and their obvious ending can drive us towards the conclusion of the ridiculous plot.

Overall, "We're the Millers" is pretty funny, and if you're watching a stoner comedy, you should be pretty forgiving of any nonsense the plot throws at you.

National Lampoon's Drug Mule Vacation could be an alternative title as it has the vacation vibe.

A small time, nice guy drug dealer (Jason Sudeikis) is forced to smuggle drugs by his boss and lookalike (Ed Helms).

Sudeikis has the idea that posing as a happy family might not invite suspicion at the border crossing and persuades his neighbour who is a stripper (Jennifer Aniston.) A homeless teenager as his daughter and a nerdy boy (Will Poulter) to be his son and off they go in a RV.

The film is sporadically funny thanks more to Poulter although there does not seem to be much road comedy.

The plot comes to life after the drugs have been picked up with the predictable double cross. Then it becomes a chase film with the added bonding issues with the 'family'. After an abrasive start they seem to act like an actual family.

Sudeikis does comedy with his sarcasm. His character is supposedly a rebel but just looks like a nerdy slacker who never became a bank manager and has no business living in a low rent, rough neighbourhood.

Aniston does a few sexy scenes and there seems to be a budding romance between them.

British actor Poulter is the revelation who takes this film by the scruff of the neck and it is funny enough to make you laugh along the way.