The Guilt Trip: Movie Review

The Guilt Trip: Movie Review

Cast: Barbara Streisand, Seth Rogen
Director: Anne Fletcher

From the director of Step Up, The Proposal and 27 Dresses comes this road trip film featuring Streisand and Rogen, who executive produced.

Rogen is Andy Brewster, an inventor, who's created an environmentally friendly cleaning product and is about to embark on a series of pitches across America. When he calls in on his over protective mother Joyce (Streisand who was nominated for a Razzie for this) prior to the sales campaign, a moment of family revelation and a degree of guilt compel him to ask her along for the 8,000 km drive.

That's despite the irritant nagging and excessive worrying about his love-life.

So, in true road trip style, the pair set off on a voyage of (predictable) discovery with (inevitable) life changing repercussions.

The Guilt Trip is a road movie that's supposed to be comedy and drama. And unfortunately, it ends up being neither really.

Low on comedy, the vehicle manages more middle of the road, pleasantly predictable bickering and squabbling telemovie of the week which is likely to see you (potentially) diving for the phone after and calling your own mum and realising that in amongst all the nagging over the years, she really does love you.

Rogen is downbeat to Streisand's pitched nagging (and unfortunately, she grates so much within the first 10 minutes, she becomes irritating) and whilst there are moments when the pair come to life (notably nearer the end, there just aren't enough of them throughout the 95 minutes of film.

Very minor interactions with a supporting cast don't add much to the mix or improve the dynamic between the main duo and whilst it's all perfectly watchable, it's simply nothing more than that. Which is a real shame, because as the credits roll, there are a series of improvised riffs within the car that are funnier than anything in the rest of what's gone prior.

A disappointing script leaves a real sense of what could have been for The Guilt Trip movie - and while Rogen and Streisand gel well together and have a reasonably realistic dynamic, the tank runs empty way too early, leaving you wishing this road trip had been canned.

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