Amy Poehler and Tina Fey star as siblings whose ever-longing adolescence rug is pulled out from under them, in”Sisters”. Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) is told by her parents (Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) that they are planning to sell their home in Orlando, and asked to come and clean out the things from her childhood bedroom. Her parents also ask that she tell her sister, Kate (Tina Fey), because she doesn’t take bad news well. Maura, a recently divorced nurse, is constantly trying to help people, including writing motivational quotes that she is constantly giving to her sister. Kate is an unorganized and immature stylist, who is living in her friend’s house, while her teenage daughter, Haley (Madison Davenport), is living elsewhere and refusing to tell Kate where she is staying. After finding out the truth, Kate convinces Maura that they have to throw one last party at the house so that Maura can experience the kinds of things that she was oblivious to growing up. One thing leads to the next, and the two ladies cause a wild night of loud music and debauchery sure to leave a memory to last a lifetime.

Ever since the success of party films like “Animal House” and “Bachelor Party”, films have constantly been trying to capture the magic of hilarious characters combined with madness in material to bring the loudest laughs out of it’s audience. “Sisters” is the latest failed attempt at such a goal. First of all, going into this movie I had no idea just how much the party had to do with this film, despite noticing many scenes at the night of in the trailer. The film’s ridiculous two hour run time created a lot of pacing issues that had me reaching for my watch more than one time. There just isn’t enough compelling or funny material here to make these two hours a smooth transition, so the movie drags on more than one occasion. There is also a fine offering of improv comedy for many of the scenes involving the two main characters. This movie didn’t provide me with a ton of laughs, but the few it did were ruined by improv comedy that drags on for far too long, creating a high demand for an editor who knows how to bring out the most in each laugh. Beneath the surface, there is definitely a decent movie below all of this pointless material that should’ve been left on the outtakes short during the closing credits of the film.

As for the performances of two of SNL’s brightest female influences; it’s hit and miss. The chemistry between Poehler and Fey will always be there, as their friendship blossoms on more than one occasion. These two have fun working together, so who are we to fault how many times they combine their efforts for fans of the duo? The biggest problem for them is the obstacle in material that is written for them by screenwriter Paula Pell. The dialogue in this movie is more times than not crude and juvenille, and it just doesn’t feel like the right brand of humor for the intelligent starlets. Because of the awkwardness in material, the two often feel like they are two actors portraying a character, instead of becoming that character smoothly. I did enjoy Brolin and Wiest as their aging-but-hip parents. The film just couldn’t cut to these two enough, and there was more than one occasion where they carried great comedic timing for the film. Their lines feel smooth and not rehearsed because they are saying things that normal parents their age say, as to where their daughter counterparts are acting like 40 year old tweens who cry at the slightest thing not going their way. There are also nice cameos from Saturday Night Live veterans like Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, and Bobby Moynahan. As well as a cameo by a WWE Superstar playing a drug dealer that can’t be missed. I can’t believe no other critic has made this comparison yet, but this is basically a female “Step Brothers”. The title is obvious enough, but the Poehler/Fey combo more than slightly resemble manchildren that were Will Ferrell and John C Riley. Why it worked for the latter though, is because Ferrell has made a career out of acting like a child. That is his schtick. Tina Fey is just too smart for her rebellious backstory, so it was at times proving difficult to believe her portrayal.

One thing I took away positively from the movie was the underlying issue of growing up in a world that has done it decades prior. There is a nice transition at the end of the movie that has our two protagonists coming across as completely different people, and for that shade of a second the screenplay of the film showcases some heart in an otherwise ruthless child of a comedy that just doesn’t know when to stop.

Overall, “Sisters” is too weak of a script for the tempting casting of Poehler and Fey as siblings. The comedy is there when it’s trimmed to a short-and-sweet kind of scene, but too many of the laughs are often ruined by repetition and punchlines lasting too long. Trim it a half hour, strengthen the character motivations of the main characters, and “Sisters” would’ve been a comedy that paid back more of the first act investment that drew it’s audience in. As it stands, the film is just one too many missed opportunities that never age to perfection.

5/10