Movie review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

By Hunter Moore

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Written and directed by Jay & Mark Duplass

Starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon, Rae Dawn Chong

Release date: 16 March 2012

To call Jason Segel’s wonderful Jeff naïve or lazy would be ignorant. Yes, he’s a jobless 30-year-old who spends his days smoking pot in his mom’s basement with M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs on repeat. Yes, some would unapologetically call him a “loser.” But could he be wise and prophetic in his own slacker-y, Dude-meets-Lenny-like way? It’s possible. Is he sweet, charming, and innocent? Absolutely.

“Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is the latest amiable dramedy from the brothers Duplass, who arrived on the scene in 2005 with their mumblecore gem “The Puffy Chair” and made a big splash in 2010 with the John C. Reilly-Jonah Hill vehicle “Cyrus.” They have a distinct, focused style, but they only take themselves too seriously when it’s appropriate. Their writing is crisp and realistic and their dialogue is fun to listen to. The writer-directors are smart about keeping things moving along both within the story and within the character arcs: The audience feels for Jeff as he processes everything around him and decides what to do next. Oddly, they employ a distracting, maybe endearing cinematographic flourish wherein their camera quickly zooms in and zooms out multiple times, usually on characters’ faces and usually within the same shot. Grammatically, this doesn’t make sense. Hopefully they’ll grow out of it.

“Jeff” observes a busy 24-hour period within the titular protagonist’s relatively uneventful life. He finds himself distracted while running an errand for his mother Sharon (the luminous Susan Sarandon), and ends up going around town with his businessman brother Pat (Ed Helms, thankfully playing against character type), which provides for some delightful location shooting in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Jeff never ceases searching for signals and fate amidst the domestic chaos surrounding him. Unfortunately, Pat’s marriage to Linda (Judy Greer in a nice turn) is dissolving – and quick – but Pat is too narcissistic and pedantic to realize it. In his unorthodox fashion, Jeff must assist in changing his older brother’s attitude before everything goes completely wrong.

The plot develops as it must. Jeff and Pat’s misadventures are funny, surprising, and disheartening, often within the same scene. By the end of the film, all the characters have congregated on a bridge through no fault of their own. They’re stuck together because of the universe and fate – exactly what Jeff has been preaching to us the whole time. The coincidences then occur and pile up so as to yield a happy ending, but it is all very enjoyable to watch and experience. These people are not necessarily better at the finale, but maybe a little smarter and a bit more understanding of one another. After everything is said and done, they remain a family. As Jeff settles down on his couch to watch himself on the news (spoiler?), the audience knows he is simply counting his blessings and waiting for the next sign – or maybe just the next viewing of Signs.