Sisters

I've been a huge fan of both Amy Poehler and Tina Fey since they were first on Saturday Night Live. My love for them has only grown as they went on to their own respective sitcoms on NBC, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. While their first cinematic collaboration, Baby Mama didn't quite work for me, this second outing more that makes up for it with the very funny Sisters. 

Maura Ellis (played by Amy Poehler) is notified by her parents (played by James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) that they are selling their house and need her and her sister Kate (played by Tina Fey) to come and clean out their rooms so the house can be sold. Begrudgingly, the two sisters return home, unhappy to see their childhood home being sold off. With the rest of the house packed up and just their room left to go through, the two girls have the place to themselves as they start going through a lifetime of items, including their old journals. With a wave of nostalgia, Kate proposes that they have one last blowout party to celebrate. Maura agrees on the condition that for once Kate remains sober so that Maura can "let her freak flag fly." Kate begrudgingly agrees and the two set out to throw the Party to end all parties in their childhood home. What starts off as a rather tame gathering continues to escalate until becoming an all out rager that will likely rival some of cinema's all time rager party movies. 

There was a lot to enjoy in Sisters and much of it has to do with the two characters played by Poehler and Fey. Maura is a recently divorced woman who is trying to move on with her life but is perhaps not certain how to do it. Kate on the other hand is in a state of arrested development, irresponsible and frequently unemployed and homeless, crashing on a friend's pull out couch. Her daughter is frequently missing, staying with friends and trying to avoid her mother. She has the trickier character her, playing someone who could be completely unlikable in the wrong hands, but Fey manages to pull it off, creating a character that you genuinely want to see get their act together. Plus, it's fun to see Fey play against type as the bad girl of sorts. Maura on the other hand has lived a much more sheltered and well-behaved life and always did what she felt she was supposed to. Much of the joy of the film is seeing her finally cut loose and start living a little.

Overall, I thought Sisters was an amusing and funny comedy and one that wasn't overwhelmed with raunchy humor as so many comedies are these days, which was a refreshing change. At the center of it we have two strong performances from two of the funniest ladies working today proving once again what a dynamite comedy duo they are. It's nothing groundbreaking, but fans of Fey and Poehler will have a good time with it.