Jeff, Who Lives at Home, is about a lovable, pot-smoking, slacker manchild (Jason Segel) who lives in his mother’s basement. He’s watched M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Signs” a few too many times and is trying to read the signs in his own life.
At the same time, his older brother, Pat (Ed Helms), has lost track of his own sense of purpose, which is leading to desperate attempts at good times and a failing marriage. At her office, Mom (Susan Sarandon) is lonely and disappointed in the way that her life has turned out. She despairs that Jeff will not even be able to accomplish a small repair job in her absence. Each of them are still grieving the long-ago loss of their father and husband, keeping each other at arm’s length in different ways.
The prevailing theme of this movie is Jeff’s search for his fate, his destiny. At different points, old lines like “things happen for a reason” are dragged out, but only Jeff really seems to believe this. Though he is clueless about the world, he is kind and compassionate to the people around him, believing the best in everyone.
Brother Pat, who for all his problems is living the more “normal” life, is angry and bitter. Jeff patiently tries to help him see what he is missing, even though Jeff seems almost completely unable to make any move for himself. Until this day, when he receives a sign.
There is an interesting use of imagery that seems rather baseless. Everyone gets “dunked,” as one of my fellow moviegoers termed it. One gets baptized through the fire sprinklers, two more end up diving into some water. And Jeff is a 30-something single man who helps people and even has a carpentry job to attend to. Not sure what to do with all of that.
Should you see it? Maybe, maybe not. Offensive language abounds; it’s rated R for a reason. But humor bubbles out of this strange brew of painful family dysfunction and corny sentiment.
The last time my youth group small group met, we talked about how God communicates with us, following the Lenten service about questions we have for God. Talking with them, though I can point to concrete answers to prayer and ways that I’ve felt God’s leading, it was still felt sort of nebulous to explain how. So while I laugh at Jeff’s seeking for supernatural “signs,” I can’t help but think that I can understand how he feels, wishing for something to tell me exactly what to do next. So it seems to me that this movie helped me think through what it means to look for direction in life for those who don’t feel God’s hand leading them through it.
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