We're the Millers (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

“We’re the Millers”
Actually Aren’t

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

What does Hollywood do when it has a handful of B-list stars in need of movie roles? Apparently, it throws them all into the same film and passes it off as a “family” outing.

That might explain “We’re the Miller’s,” a new comedy in which Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, and Will Poulter pretend to be a family called the Millers.

In this silly farce -- currently playing at the Tropic Cinema -- an ambitious pot dealer (Sudeikis) hires a stripper (Aniston), a runaway street kid (Roberts), and a virgin slacker (Poulter) to pretend to be his family as a cover for delivering a big shipment of weed from Mexico in the “family” RV.
It almost works -- the delivery and the movie. And, of course, by the end the ersatz Millers have grown closer, just like a real … well, you know.

Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis co-starred in 2011’s “Horrible Bosses.” Good thing they’ve developed a comfort level. Because the “We’re the Millers” script calls for Aniston to give Sudeikis a sexy lap dance.

“I would say it was a clear manifestation of our trust,” grins Sudeikis.

“Yeah, 100 percent trust,” nods the pretty woman who was grinding against him in the movie.

How did America’s favorite friend wind up playing a pole-dancing stripper?

“At first it’s like, oh that’ll be fun. It’s something I’ve never done before,” says Jennifer Aniston. “Then the day before, it’s why did I agree to do this … you can’t back out …you can’t not do it.”
She raises her eyebrows in mock horror. “It’s intimidating to walk onto the set after having practiced, rehearsed by yourself.”

Then like a naughty girl she confesses, “Stripping was so much fun.”

Wanna see Brad Pitt’s ex-wife take it all off?

Forgetabout it. Aniston doesn’t bare all in this silly comedy, the way she did with Vince Vaughn in “The Break Up.”

For her strip scenes she actually wore a thong and two pair of underwear plus three bras on top of one another. “Why I thought that was going to help protect anything is beyond me,” she laughs at herself. “Because, that’s just like ridiculous. I was like, ‘No, I need three bras! I need three bras because God forbid that one, if it’s gonna escape!’”

Nonetheless, she looks good in her undies. Trim and toned and fit.

Aniston admitted that getting into stripper-shape for her role in “We’re the Millers” required some strict eating habits. “I was on a very like, you know, greens and vegetables and lean proteins and kale.” She also stepped up her workout routine in order to get ready for the racy role. “I doubled the amount of yoga I normally do,” she says. “You get up into my age and you’ve gotta do a little bit more.”

Pundits like HuffPost rave that the 44-year-old actress has the “best body in Hollywood.” “And she’s not afraid to show it off,” adds the online blog.

To prove it, Aniston showed up at the film’s New York premiere wearing an incredibly tight, mid-length, strapless purple dress. (And a humongous engagement ring, so you guys can forget all those errant fantasies.)

“We’re the Millers” is a concept that has been knocking around Tinseltown for a long time. It’s gone through at least four screenwriters. Actors like Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Steve Buscemi were attached to the lead role before Sudeikis.

The what-do-we-do-with-this film was also looking for a director. Rawson Marshall Thurber drew the short straw. He’s the guy who made a somewhat funny sleeper hit called “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” Can he pull off another slam-dunk? Guess that depends whether or not “We’re the Millers" catches on with multiple audiences.

Test screenings indicate that the movie’s targeted toward 15-33 year olds. The reasoning seems to be that kids will like the smutty humor. Stoners will love the drug references. Dads will like the hot striptease that Jennifer Aniston gives to convince the drug lords that she’s really part of a fake family. And moms will like the … uh, popcorn?

srhoades@aol.com