With Jeff, Who Lives at Home - yes, with a comma *sigh* - Duplass brothers Jay and Mark of mumblecore fame have made their least mumblecore-esque and most just-plain-basic-indie-quirky film yet. But by the end, Jeff is an unlikely hero and everyone learns to appreciate and live for today.Don’t be fooled by the title. The beauty of the day contrasts with the terrible truth that Linda is cheating on Pat and that Jeff is a slacker who believes in some destiny that no one else seems to care about. This movie is an intimate exposé of the lives of these four characters on a beautiful day. With no grand sweeping hero shots of the blockbuster, this movie is filmed on a very personable level and allows for the actors to shine. The steady, handheld feel of the image allows for a greater sense of realism. For example, you get a clear sense of what the characters are thinking when the camera zooms in tight on their face as they emote. The cinematography powerfully takes what was written and brings it to life on screen, which allows the audience to know what the characters are feeling. A great blend of humor and drama, the movie has quite a few laughs contrasted with heartfelt moments of real life. The movie’s writing weaves the theme of destiny in and out of the story.
Ed Helms plays a great passive-aggressive, non-confrontational husband who is losing control of his marriage. None of these actors phoned it in for this movie. Sarandon as the disgruntled mother is just great. Greer is great as Helms’s wife and the two make you believe that they have a failing marriage. Segel and Helms are very believable as brothers who don’t exactly get along well. Segel carries the movie as he gives a great job at being sincere and throws out all the stops. You may think life is taking you one path, but you might be on a different path entirely. Jeff sees signs everywhere for what he believes are for his destiny, until it becomes clear that his fate is not what he thought it’d be at the end of the day. What you believe your fate to be may not be the outcome you were expecting. In the end, fate brings Jeff’s family back from the brink of ruin. Fate brings Jeff and Pat together to search for Pat’s wife. Destiny is a prevalent theme throughout the movie and it works well into the story. Jeff may be a slacker, but he believes that everyone including himself has a destiny.
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