Sisters (Cinema Screening)

(spoiler free)

December seems to be filled with comedy releases more than anything else this year, I suppose nothing really wants to go up against Star Wars! Already this month I’ve seen ‘The Night Before’ which whilst it had its moments overall was a disappointment. So could funny women Tina Fey and Amy Poehler fare any better?

To be honest I’ve never really seen much of either of these actresses work before. Obviously I witnessed the voice talents of Poehler earlier this year in Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ but apart from this I haven’t seen much of her material. The same can be said for Tina Fey really as I only recall seeing ‘Date Night’ & ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ from her filmography.  This was no issue though as the pair have thoroughly convinced me of their comedic talents after watching ‘Sisters’! The chemistry that the duo have is fantastic and especially vital in a film so focused on their relationship so I’m glad that they nailed this aspect. However, we don’t get straight into the best of their chemistry as the film takes a little time to really crank up the funny. A lot of the initial gags fall flat and led me to fear the worst for this comedy, I was trying to work out how I could manage to sit through a two hour comedy with zero laughs! Thankfully, the film’s poor opening is not at all reflective of the film as a whole.

Once the film finds it feet it rarely falters as ‘Sisters’ is actually very funny in parts. This is largely due to the two lead actresses who are great in their roles and have a definite comedic presence on screen.  As well as the leads here were have some other cast members who play supporting characters, the best of which is played by Maya Rudolph. She plays a pretentious real estate agent called Brinda and if anyone rivals the two leads for the limelight it is her. The funniest moments of the film are always when she makes an appearance. Rudolph is at her best here, comedy wise, since ‘Bridesmaids’, whether she is simply delivering a line, using a facial expression or even noises on one occasion she always gets a laugh! It’s a shame that the film feels that it has to include over obvious drama to fill the void between gags though. I suppose this does give the film a bit more structure but too much time is devoted to this. Saying that I’d imagine the target audience will lap this up – it just wasn’t to my personal taste. Oh and John Cena tries to further his acting career after his abysmal turn in ‘Trainwreck’ earlier in the year. The results are similar here. Despite those few flaws though ‘Sisters’ funny bits are funny enough to forgive the rest.

‘Sisters’ isn’t one of those comedies where you have to weigh up the funny and unfunny jokes as for the most part it will have you laughing which was quite refreshing. The two leads are great and with support from the likes of Maya Rudolph there is a lot of fantastic comedic acting on show here. The film does have a few flaws but nothing memorable enough to ruin what it does achieve, as a result the two hour running time flies by and you’ll be more than happy to sit through the bloopers at the end!

Rating – 8/10