We are all looking for something better to come along and we’ve all been guilty a time or two of hoping that fate would present a sign that things were going to get better. Of course these signs don’t always come along, at least not in the way we expect them to.
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is about a guy, Jeff (Jason Segel), who at 30-ish, still lives at home in his mother’s basement. His mom (Susan Sarandon) wants nothing more than for him to get up off his lazy butt and do something, anything with his life. But Jeff is perfectly happy, sitting in his mom’s basement smoking weed and watching TV, or so it seems. Jeff is looking for more out of life but feels that no one really gets him.
Jeff is looking for a sign, something that will tell him that his real life is about to begin. He believes that when the time is right, the universe will let him know. Until then, Sharon (Sarandon) enlists Jeff’s brother, Pat (Ed Helms) to try and light a fire under him to motivate him. The only problem is, Pat is just as screwed up as Jeff, he is just better at covering up his unhappiness.
The film is both written and directed by the brother Mark and Jay Duplass. Mark, you may know from the FX series, “The League”. When he isn’t playing football, he makes thoughtful and effective independent movies like this one. The Duplass Bros. get a lot of their talent without these actors over doing it. Both Segal and Helms have a tendency of overacting from time to time but here they both give very believable and subtle performances.
Towards the end of the movie, it does seem to get a little lost in what exactly its trying to say about Jeff’s lifestyle as he searches for meaning in these signs but when it stays on point it is a solid character piece.
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is a movie that seeks to inspire its audience and it does despite the low key performances by several great actors. The movie is slow at times but it all comes together nicely at the end without feeling like it had to force a meaningful ending in to wow the audience.
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