Sisters Movie Review Essay

Sisters, directed by Jason Moore, was released on December 18, 2015 and is rated R because of the intense sexual content, language, and drug use, therefore receiving a 6.4/10 rating (“Sisters”). In this movie, two sisters discover that their parents are selling their childhood home and try to convince them and to keep it. Kate Ellis (Tina Fey) is a hotheaded hairdresser who cannot keep a job, house, or her daughter. Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) is a responsible aunt who takes care of Kate’s daughter behind her back to provide a steady environment for her to grow up in. Kate convinces Maura to help her throw one last house party before the house is sold. The movie Sisters is a raunchy comedy that people expect to be funny due to the plot and the
chemistry between the two main characters, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.
Kate Ellis and her daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) are constantly moving houses because Kate fails to keep a job for more than a couple months due to her big head and dirty mouth. Realizing her mom is irresponsible, Haley decides to let Maura take care of her behind Kate’s back. Maura is a nurse who is financially stable to take care of herself and others. Kate and Maura learn that they have one weekend to clean their room, but cannot let go of their childhood. They decide to throw one last house party and invite everyone they went to high school with. As the raging party gets out of control due to excessive amounts of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana, they realize there might not be a house to sell anymore.
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have been in several comedy movies together.
Reviews call them “Tina and Amy” and the “Comedy Duo” as they were best friends who coincidentally became two of TV’s most beloved comic actresses (“Baby Mama”). They have great chemistry together on and off set; for example, they starred together in Baby Mama back in 2008. Reviews say that their humor is too corny, but one cannot help but laugh. In this movie, Fey plays Kate who is a successful and single business woman. When she finally decides the time is right to have a baby, she discovers that she is infertile. She then hires a “South Philly working girl,” Angie, played by Poehler, to become her surrogate (“Baby Mama”). This is similar to Sisters because one of the actresses is the successful, responsible adult while the other is immature and
unsuccessful.
The two comedians have starred together on Saturday Night Live several times. Saturday Night Live is a late night comedy television show that always has special guest hosts and music performers on every episode. They have done sketches as a Christmas monologue, movie sets, and Weekend Update news reports. Fey and Poehler are one of the most beloved guests on the show. They normally star together being viewed as the “Comedy Duo.”
This movie is comparable to the movie Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C.
Reilly. It is a feminization of Sisters because their insane rivalry and hatred for the other pulls the new family apart, forcing them to work together to reunite their parents. Similar to Step Brothers, Sisters is also about two adults who cannot let go of their childhood or grow up. In Sisters, Fey realizes she is getting older and wants to be young one last night. Poehler realizes she is getting older because she is a divorced nurse who lives alone and is too focused on her job. In Step Brothers, the parents force the brothers to get jobs and move out of the house. When the parents see that they cannot obtain jobs because of their immaturity, they decide to get a
divorce.
Adults would be interested in this movie because it is about two sisters who are, in fact, adults but cannot let go of their childhood. Also, adults may understand the sexual and drug references better than younger teenagers. However, teenagers can relate to the partying scene better than adults. The audience knows that the sisters are trying to be young again just for one night, so they can expect that there will be some old school drugs and drunks at this party.
The genre of this movie is comedy because of the sexual references, drug and alcohol consumption, and language content. The main contribute to the comedy in this movie is the chemistry between the two stars, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. A review on A.V. Club states, “Fey and Poehler are clearly the center of the film, and watching their lively games of verbal ping-pong is always an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes or so” (Rife). This movie is a hilarious comedy that is well worth spending money to go see because Fey and Poehler work tremendously well together.