DVD Review: The Guilt Trip

A little late for Mother's Day, we watched The Guilt Trip, the road-trip comedy starring starring Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand. Is it worth picking up on DVD? Click to find out!

PLOT

A mother tags along with her adult son on his road trip across the country as he tries to sell his invention to different companies. The first 20 minutes of a comedy are not ones that should bore people when they're watching your movie but The Guilt Trip almost lost me there. It jumps right into some deep family issues that most films make you wait until you know the characters better. Even when it does pick up, it manages to drag along for a while longer, not delivering any real laughs but not falling completely flat. Its in the movie's final act  where it actually does begin to shine and show a fair amount of heart. The Guilt Trip's destination is pretty solid, we just wish we could have skipped the journey.

DIALOGUE

The chemistry between Rogen and Streisand is very good. You really buy that these two are mother and son and their conversations seem so genuine. While technically a comedy, the dialogue hits the hardest in the dramatic moments, as Streisand delivers each line with the perfect emotion. Rogen, however, has two modes: nervous, giggling jokester or screaming lunatic. While movies like Knocked Up or Superbad don't require much else from him, these more dramatic roles suffer greatly from his inability to believably deliver his lines.

VISUALS

Not much to write home about visually in this one. With much of the movie taking place in a car, you mostly just see Andy and Joyce talking. I don't think The Guilt Trip needed any stunning visuals or creative cinematography, however, because the story just doesn't call for it. This is a movie about a relationship and in those types of movies, the visuals sometimes need to get out of the way.

CHARACTERS

There are really only two characters in the film. Other people pop up for 2 minutes and then disappear, but they don't really count. Joyce and Andy have to carry the movie. Sadly only one character is pulling their weight. I don't think this is a problem with the story itself, rather with Rogen's acting. It's just not good! So when Streisand and he are on screen together, Rogen's character disappears and just becomes Seth Rogen, trying not to suck. 

LAUGHS

With the exception of a few good laughs toward the end, The Guilt Trip mostly hits the comedy mark. Rogen's shtick is old hat and Streisand isn't given any real funny things to do or say. The film just keeps pointing at her and saying "See? Doesn't your mother do this? Isn't that funny?". I hoped for better. 

DUSTY'S SCORE: 5 out of 10