Earlier this month I saw the Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen movie: The Guilt Trip. As we entered the movie auditorium, there were about 10 or 12 older couples in addition to my wife and myself waiting for the movie to start. While we waited, one of the other patrons commented out loud to everyone’s laughter that the theater was full of old folks. That comment got me thinking because no one was there to see Seth Rogen in this movie. We were all there to see Barbra Streisand.
I’m not a fan of Seth Rogen, having hated his performance in the 2011 movie, The Green Hornet. However, I am a huge fan of Barbra Streisand, as were obviously others in the theater that day. Yet it was somewhat strange watching this older Barbra Streisand on screen. I think most of us in the theater that day were hoping to see the same actress who was in the 1970 comedies like: For Pete’s Sake, The Owl and the Pussycat, Up the Sandbox and What’s Up Doc? And while we politely laughed during the movie, I think most of us were disappointed that the Barbra Streisand of those films was not the one in The Guilt Trip.
Supposedly based upon a real life road trip taken by the screenwriter, Dan Fogelman, and his mother, this outing just did not work for me. It’s a story of a road trip taken by young scientist, Andy Brewster and his mom, Joyce. Andy is trying to sell his products to major distributors such as Costco and HSN while attempting to reunite his widowed mother with a lost love. It’s clear that Streisand and Rogen have enough chemistry to make a funny film, but the movie script just didn’t allow that to happen. I don’t say this about many films, but I’ll say it about this one. It’s a film that you should wait and watch when it’s available on HBO or Showtime. It’s a movie with Barbra Streisand in it, but it’s not a Barbra Streisand film. And that was very disappointing.