Sisters (2015)

Directed by Jason Moore. Starring Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Ike Barinholtz, Dianne Wiest, James Brolin, Maya Rudolph, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, John Cena, Madison Davenport, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Samantha Bee. [R]

Siblings Poehler and Fey are upset to learn that their parents are selling their childhood home and decide to nurse those wounds by throwing one last blow-out and inviting their old friends from high school. Predictable hodgepodge of the raunchy and gross-out with the occasional verbal stinger and slapstick gag relies heavily on star power and the good cheer that those stars inspire simply by existing. Poehler and Fey are too naturally funny not to squeeze out the occasional laugh—and their chemistry is always on point—but the writing is lazy more often than inspired, and the signs of strain are apparent at several junctures. The halfhearted stabs at heart and pathos don’t work, and the big party drags on too long; the formula should have just been abandoned so the two funny ladies could have pushed the material to the breaking point (and right past it). Rudolph is wasted as the stock buzzkill, Cena has a few funny moments as a tough guy with quirks, and Moynihan whiplashes between funny and grating during his frequent pop-ups. As expected, several “Saturday Night Live” veterans fill out small roles, including Chris Parnell, Kate McKinnon, and Paula Pell, the latter of which also wrote the screenplay (her first feature film).

49/100