Sisters

On the surface, Sisters may seem like a basic and sometimes crass comedy and you know what? It is. But it has something that most generic gross-out comedies don't have, two of the funniest women ever in it. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reunite on screen for the first time since 2008's Baby Mama and it is well worth the wait.

Maura (Amy Poehler) has been told by her parents Bucky and Deana (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) that they are selling their house that she grew up in and that she and her sister Kate (Tina Fey) need to come and clear out the bedrooms they haven't lived in since they were teenagers. They want Maura to tell her sister because they are scared of how she would react. Kate meanwhile is struggling to keep a job and keep in contact with her daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) when she is lured down to Orlando by Maura. When Kate finds out the house is being sold she convinces Maura to have a big party there like they used to have when they were teenagers. Kate also convinces her to invite James (Ike Barinholtz), their cute neighbour from down the street.

This movie is really dominated by the comedy chops of both Fey and Poehler, leaving little room for the overall message of the film, something about how family is a feeling rather than a physical thing. The much bigger theme that I got out of this movie was have fun while you're young because there's a point where you get to when adult parties just become sitting around talking to each other. Unless that is your party is attending by a whole bunch of Korean partygirls and one big buff drug dealer. All of the jokes in the movie revolve around this or the fact that Maura and Kate are still living in their teen years of the 80s.

As I said, both Fey and Poehler are understandably fantastic, but what I was surprised at was the role reversal that they went through. For years I have seen Tina Fey as the voice of reason between the two because of roles like Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, but now Poehler is the responsible? It's a change I loved. Ike Barinholtz is lovably goofy as James and gets into a very uncomfortable situation and Maya Rudolph as super bitchy Brinda is hilarious. The stars of the supporting cast that stuck out for me were John Cena who was a lot funnier than his role in Trainwreck and Bobby Moynihan and Greta Lee make a great unlikely couple.

If you're a fan of both Fey and Poehler and want to see them reunite like I do then this movie is for you. If you're not then the take home message might not be enough to get you through it.

Robin Williams Tribute Month: The Birdcage (1996)

I think this is the only hilarious comedy on the list where Robin Williams plays a straight man to someone else's silly character. That's not to say he isn't over the top, but compared to his co-star Nathan Lane, he seems relatively subdued.

Armand Goldman (Williams) owns a successful South Beach gay club where his partner Albert (Lane) is his star drag queen. One day, Armand's son Val (Dan Futterman), that he had when he was younger, turns up to announce that he is getting married.

Meanwhile, Val's fiance Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart) is breaking the news to her own parents. Her father is the hard-line Senator Keeley (Gene Hackman), who is the co-founder of The Coalition for Moral Order. Because of this fact, Barbara has lied to her parents and said that Val's father is the cultural attaché to Greece, rather than bear the outrage that would come if they found out that Val's parents are in fact gay.

After a scandal involving Senator Keeley's associate and the subsequent media circus, the Keeley's decide to drive to Miami to meet Val's parents. This causes stress for Armand and Albert who must figure out a way to ruin Val's chance at marriage. They try everything from trying to make Albert act more masculine to pretending that he is just an uncle.

Mike Nichols has crafted quite a funny movie that for the time was pretty out there. A movie about two very conservative people meeting a flamboyantly gay couple is supposed to break down barriers. Indeed when you have Williams (one of the biggest stars at the time) playing an openly gay character, it really made people think. That's one of the reasons I like this movie so much. It did get people thinking at the time and because of it, people did start to be more accepting (not everyone I know, but this is hardly the place to discuss it).

Now I know I said earlier that Williams seems a little more subdued in this film. That's not entirely the case. Compared to Lane and Hank Azaria, he just isn't as flamboyant. He also has to carry some of the more emotional scenes. But he does get a chance to be hilarious. The scene where he is teaching Albert to be more masculine really stands out.

Speaking of Albert, Nathan Lane very nearly steals the show for me. His outlandish behaviour is hysterical. The other stand out performance for me is Hank Azaria as the Goldman's gay housekeeper, Agador Spartacus. Again he is over the top, but does it in his own way.

Verdict: A fun and refreshing comedy that does have a little bit of substance to it.