Jeff, Who Lives at Home

In their latest picture, the Duplasse brothers take yet another step away from their "mumblecore" roots and towards legitimate feature filmmaking, a journey they began with last year's studio-produced Cyrus.  Although this slight film actually has a lot to say, it isn't pushy--which I appreciated.  The storyline starts out fairly dull; it’s a credit to Jason Siegel, playing his usual likeable loser, that I stuck with the film long enough to reach its rather satisfying finale. If only the rest of the cast were as good or well used. Itis especially dismaying to watch the great Susan Sarandon reduced to yet another supporting role as a mother. She is a far more integral part of this film than she has been in many of her recent outings, but her scenes still feel like they were shot in just a day or two--almost as an afterthought.