"Jeff, Who Lives at Home" vs. "Little Miss Sunshine"

    “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” and “Little Miss Sunshine” are more alike than they are different.  The two main characters in both movies are introduced in a very similar way through the works of cinematography.  They are also comparable in the set - up of each story. The elements of narrative also play a big part in both movies.

            In the beginning of “Jeff Who Lives at Home” the cinematography goes to work instantly. The camera is right  up in Jeff’s face, and all his feelings are evident through his expressions, as he watches the TV.  Then the camera slowly pulls away to reveal a trashed, dump of a basement.  In the rest of the movie the camera uses wide angles, and the viewer isn’t so involved in the character’s lives and mind as it seems in the beginning. In “Little Miss Sunshine” the movie starts out with the camera right up in the face of Olive Hoover portrayed by Abigail Breslin. She’s intently staring at the TV.  All her emotions, thoughts, and a sense of longing are pouring out of her face and onto the movie screen. The camera is once again allowing the viewer to feel everything the character is feeling, by getting up in the actor’s face. Then the camera slowly pulls away to reveal a trashed living room. Again the rest of the movie is filmed with the camera at a distance, and there aren’t any more up close in their face shots. 

             The movies are also similar in the use of elements of narrative. The scene In “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” when Pat goes running after Linda (in the traffic) echos “Little Miss Sunshine” when Dwayne flips out and runs down the hill to recover from just finding out he’s colorblind. The moms in both movies are the first ones to go see about their kids.  Both movies are about following dreams. Both Jeff and Olive had to do their own thing whether or not their families understood.  Family problems had to happen in both movies in order to bring both families together in the end. Olive’s beauty pageant trip and Jeff’s “Kevin obsession” in the end brought both families closer. 

            “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” have very different actors and family types. One family only has a mom and two boys, and the other family is a dad, a mom, sister, brother, uncle and grandpa.  The families are different, but the problems, main characters, and resolution have a lot in common.  

“Jeff, Who lives at Home” Review

        The Movie “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, I consider it a three star movie. The movie involves a dysfunctional family of three:  a working mom Sharon, portrayed, by Susan Sarandon and her two grown sons, Jeff who has no idea what to do with his life, portrayed by Jason Segel, and Pat portrayed by Ed Helms. Jeff sits at home all day contemplating the meaning of living, while Pat who is married with a steady job, loves to spend money and comes across as the stable one in the family even though he is always getting into trouble. In my mind the movie is good because the characters allow the viewer to care what happens to them.  It is incredibly funny at times, but it also has moments when the humor is hard to understand, and there is tension between characters making the scenes more sad and awkward than funny.  

            “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is about a working mom Sharon who doesn’t understand her two boys, Jeff and Pat. Jeff smokes and sits at home all day waiting for a sign to tell him what to do, and Pat works and lives with his wife Linda, who gets mad and dumps her morning breakfast on the brand new car that has eaten their savings. Also he bought the car without talking to her first.  Jeff gets a call from a Kevin asking where his damn money is, Jeff replies “wrong number” and hangs up. Tn he sees an add on TV telling him to “look for the signs, they’re all around you.” His mother then calls and tells him to go buy glue and her cabinet for her birthday.  So Jeff steps out into the world to go find wood glue. While on the bus he sees a boy named Kevin, and as the boy gets off the bus, he decides to get off too and follow the boy.  The boy makes friends with him and then robs him of his glue money, the only money he had.  Jeff ends up walking and runs into his brother Pat who is chilling at Hooters with a friend.  Jeff then gets into Pat’s car, and they set out to get glue.  The brand new car first gets a ticket, then smashes into a tree on someone’s yard, and finally gets towed for parking in a fire lane. The journey to get glue changes focus when Pat sees his wife, Linda, with another man. He becomes obsessed and follows her to a hotel, while Jeff goes off following an ice cream truck titled “Kevin’s”.  The truck leads him straight to Pat at the hotel where they share a brotherly talk in a hotel bathtub after Pat and Linda have shared their second fight of the day.  Jeff tells Pat to live for love and the day. Pat goes after Linda.  At the office, the mom figures out that her secret friend is her best friend, Carol, who is in love with her. Finally the whole family plus Carol ends up stuck on a bridge in a traffic Jam. Pat gets out of the car to run after Linda. Sharon, his mother, gets out of the car and runs after Pat. Carol chases after Sharon, and when Jeff finally decides to get out of the car, they’ve all gathered at the front of the jam where a car has driven off the bridge into the water.  A Dad and two girls are trapped inside.  Jeff runs past his family and jumps into the river to save the dad and two kids.  Later that day the mom’s birthday is celebrated. After Jeff sees on TV that the dad who he saved was named Kevin, he goes upstairs and fixes the cabinet with the wood glue that they had finally gotten.   

               I haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on how the book is different from the movie.  But I noticed many techniques that help the movie along.  When the movie begins, I noticed right away that some close -ups were used.  When Jeff was sitting on his couch in the basement, staring mindlessly at the TV, the camera is right up in his face. Even though it is the beginning and we really know nothing about the character, you get the sense that this is a lost person worrying what will become of him and what is his mission in life.  But throughout the rest of the movie, the camera seems distant and not so much up in the other characters’ faces.  Another technique I picked up on is the use of music and of sound.  When things arre calm and placid, the music is calm with a soft melody, or there isn’t any music at all.  But when Carol sets off the sprinklers in the office, there is panic with everyone leaving and Sharon decides that it is pretty cool, and just stands there, enjoying the water falling. With the starting of the music the viewer  understands it is no longer a panic scene. It is meant as a romantic and calming scene. Another time at the end everyone is stuck on the bridge and running after each other, with sounds of panic, impatient honking and engines running. When Jeff jumps off the bridge there is total silence, and the splash of his hitting the water starts the sounds of panic, yelling, and worried voices.  

            All in all I think it is a good movie, with good life lessons such as following your heart or the signs you are given. The movie is a little slow in places, and I got lost and didn’t think it was as funny at times, but it was a cute little movie with good actors who portrayed they’re characters very well, and in a way that made the viewer want to care for them, especially Jeff.