Pack Your Bags For "The Guilt Trip"

Oy Vey!

The Story:

Inventor Andy Brewster (Seth Rogen) is about to set off on a road trip across country to pitch his new cleaning product in the hopes of selling it and striking it rich.  His mother, Joyce (Barbara Streisand) is an overly doting mother who loves her son just about more than anything in the world.  When she lets it slip that there had been another man before his father, and that she named him after that man... Andy gets curious.  He gets the address of the old flame, and asks his mom to accompany him on his trip, not knowing about the final stop.  She agrees, and the road trip begins.  But how much can one son take of being cooped up with his mother on a trip like this?

This movie was much funnier than it had any right to be, and much better than I was expecting.

First, Seth Rogen is yet another actor who is making a living by playing himself.  When he does that, the results are usually pretty good.  When he plays against his character, like for example as The Green Hornet, the film often suffers.  Box office receipts don't lie! :)

Then you bring in Barbara Streisand as the stereotypical Jewish mother...I know...talk about typecasting... and you've struck cinematic gold.

So essentially, you just have two real people traveling along together, getting on each others nerves, and it is all filmed for our twisted pleasure. :)

But really, it works.  They each get to a breaking point of putting up with their loved ones.  Naturally, Andy's fuse is incredibly shorter than his mother's, and he snaps early, and often.  But when Joyce finally goes, she lets him have it with both barrels, and you realize what a bunch of garbage kids make their parents endure because they are so loved.

While Joyce doesn't know much about Andy's world, her advice that she gives him is practical and makes sense, and when he finally listens to it, he finds he just may have the hook he needs to make it in the business world.

Then when they finally make it to San Francisco to meet the first Andy... things don't go as planned.  It's both uplifting and bittersweet how the scene plays out, and I can't say that The Guilt Trip wasn't a trip worth taking.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: While I won't rush out to buy this one now, I could see visiting it again in the future for another bunch of laughs.