‘The Guilt Trip’ (2012)

Dave’s 3-Word Review:
Actually pretty funny

Seth Rogan plays Andy, an inventor of a revolutionary new cleaning product that uses a combination of organic materials for a safe an non-toxic cleaner that he claims is also better at cleaning than any other competing brands. The problem isn’t his product, it’s his ability to advertise and pitch the product that bores his audience. He visits his mother (Barbara Streisand), who sometimes gets on his nerves, causing him to not want to be around her all that often. When she tells him about the only other man she has loved other than his father, and that he was named after him, Andy gets intrigued. He immediately grabs her old flame’s information off of the internet and invites her to go along on a road trip as he pitches his product and plans to reacquaint the two lost loves.

There are two obvious storylines at play here, the first is Andy as he tries to maintain a hold of his diminishing confidence in his invention, and the other deals with his overall plan to get to this mysterious man she cannot stop talking about. There is no real villain in this story. One might be able to say it is man versus man, Andy against his mother, but you can tell they aren’t really enemies, and that he actually loves her as she does him. It has a lot to do with closure all around, but both the direction and the conflict are a bit unclear.

The title honestly makes no sense. Andy is not quilted into making the trip, he offered it. He didn’t even really guilt his mother into going. The real question is…what is this “guilt trip” the title suggests exists? He is aggravated with his mother for nagging him, but how will you make your mother feel guilty for loving you? It really is the story of a mother and son in a very true sense, as he wants to live his own life and feels he is incapable of doing so, but the title of the film probably wasn’t the best choice.

The comedy is very funny for both Rogen and Streisand alike. Rogen, with his usual sarcastic and blunt humor and Streisand with the unforgiving antics of a worried mother. The two work very well together both in the humorous aspects as well as the more dramatic approaches. They may not have each others looks, but how they act around each other feels natural and not in the least bit distracting. This is a great comedy for those that enjoy road trip-type films.

It is a nice movie with a nice message, but it doesn’t come close to award-winning material. If you have the money it is fine, but if not, there are a number of other movies coming out in the near future which may be better to save for. If you are either a fan of Rogen’s or Streisand’s work, this is a nice and fun addition.

As a side note, I had an issue with the invention. A cleaning product? Really? That is the most overdone invention that we see all of the time on TV. It would have been nice to see a more unique product, but it wasn’t that distracting from the overall plot. Check this movies out in theaters today!