The 365 Films Challenge #45: Jeff Who Lives at Home (2011)

Pros: 

I loved the storyline. Though the end was a bit cheesy, I enjoyed it. Jason Segel was fantastic. Of course I’m biased, but hell, I saw Bad Teacher last year, and hated it, and seeing him couldn’t even save that for me. But I thought he did really well in this role. I’m sure people would argue that Segel playing a 30 year old stoner isn’t much of a stretch, it was nice to see him flex his dramatic muscles a bit-something we’ve seen time to time on How I Met Your Mother, but that is generally absent from his film roles (again, he’s part of the Apatow crowd, and as much as I enjoy those movies, it’s nice to see him doing something different). Ed Helms does a great job as well-taking on the role of the reformed asshole very well. 

Cons:

The camera work is terrible. I know for indie movies the shakey camera seems to be the thing to do to make it seem more “authentic,” but in this case it was terribly distracting. Also, as a note to the Duplass brothers, for the love of all that is holy, not every shot needs to have 15 different quick zooms. 

Overall, I enjoyed the film, though, as I said, the camerawork left a lot to be desired. I really hope to see Segel and Helms in more roles like these, because they’re both great actors with a lot of untapped potential.