Jeff is a 30 year old unemployed pot-smoking slacker who lives in his mother’s basement. He has watched the M. Night Shyamalan’s movie Signs so many times he’s convinced that the universe is constantly tapping him on the shoulder with hints as to which path to take. He needs only to awaken to the coincidences all around him, and his destiny will be revealed.
Jeff (Jason Segel) receives a phone call from a wrong number asking for “ Kevin”, and later while he’s running an errand, he sees a man on the bus in a tank top with the name KEVIN plastered across his back. Surely, this must be the sign from the cosmos that’s been eluding him. Jeff follows the mysterious Kevin and joins him in a pick-up basketball game. Never mind that Jeff and his new found friend, served up with such synchronicity, share some pot. Kevin robs Jeff anyway. So much for fate.
Jeff’s brother Pat (Ed Helms) is a seemingly responsible job-holding married man who is struggling to keep his marriage together. The fact that he’s just blown the down payment for a house on an expensive new Porsche, probably isn’t going to help anchor the relationship with his wife. She expresses her displeasure silently by christening the car with the waffles and Redi Whip Pat has brought her for a cozy breakfast in bed. This is rendered even funnier because she launches the meal from a second story balcony. Plop!
Susan Sarandon, plays Sharon the lonely widowed mother of the boys. Jeff is a rudderless couch potato, Pat is a pompous frustrated married man, and Sharon is a hopeless romantic. She is enticed when she receives a flirty instant message from a secret admirer. After exchanging messages she eventually lets her curiosity get the best of her, and plans a rendez-vous at the water cooler with her love interest. The unknowing gentleman who shows up to get a drink has no clue when Sharon whispers that she really likes his flowers. Priceless!
Jeff, Who Lives at Home is in turn whimsical and charming. Pat is a perfect foil for Jeff, the one being in overdrive, the other stuck in neutral. Pat’s veneer of sophistication is a perfect counterpart to Jeff’s naivete. Sharon is touchingly amusing as the widow in a dead end job who is dazzled by the thought of a nascent romance. She is the glue that holds the story, and the family together—something to bear in mind when viewing the final scene. A lovely, humorous slice of life.
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