The Guilt Trip (PG-13)

Songstress Barbara Streisand hasn’t devoted much time to her once-celebrated film career since 1991’s “The Prince of Tides,” which received an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Picture’ (Streisand directed and co-starred). In addition to a handful of nominations for her recordings for film soundtracks, she was nominated as ‘Best Actress’ for her starring role in Sydney Pollack’s 1973 wartime drama, “The Way We Were.” Her latest efforts, however, have been less critically-acclaimed. She recently appeared in a pair of disappointing sequels to popular comedy “Meet the Parents,” and her latest effort, in “The Guilt Trip” does not seem to presage a return to her earlier form. Still, while this family comedy is woefully short on laughs and terribly formulaic, the few bright spots show glimmers of the talent that once captivated audiences.

The plot is simple enough. Thirty-something scientist/inventor Andy Brewster (Seth Rogen) is about to embark on a cross-country tour during which he hopes to sell the distribution rights to his new, environmentally-friendly cleaning products to a large retailer. The weekend before the trip, Andy stops by his childhood home in New Jersey, where he is hosted by his well-meaning but overbearing mother, Joyce (Streisand). Following the minor revelation that Joyce had named her son after her long-lost first love (who she had dated before marrying Andy’s late father), Andy decides to invite his mother along on his trip with the surreptitious goal of reintroducing her to her former flame, now living on the West Coast. As unexpected events unfold on their journey together, Andy and Joyce learn to understand each other a little better.

The film’s major downfall is that it simply isn’t funny enough. Early, pre-trip scenes seem particularly under-scripted, with painfully banal dialogue and flat performances from both leads that scan as an informal run-through of a rough script outline. The plot is simple enough that it needs little setup, but our introduction to Joyce and Andy’s stereotypical relationship dynamic is belabored well past the point of necessity.

All of the well-worn nagging-mother tropes are here. Mom complains that her son hasn’t settled down yet? Check. Son forced by mom to eat and drink? Check. These early portions of the plot are so formulaic and so utterly devoid of anything resembling humor, that Rogen and Streisand open with a steep uphill climb to garner any interest from viewers.

As the plot wears on, however, there are a few solid – if still unoriginal – moments. It’s when the film shies away from its attempts at light, unobtrusive comedy, that we finally get something resembling drama which works reasonably well, though only in fits and starts. Streisand and Rogen have just enough chemistry that Joyce and Andy’s most heated disagreements are momentarily compelling.

These scenes are a bit one-sided, however, for while Streisand seems eminently comfortable with playing Joyce, Rogen’s performance (a far cry from his typical irreverent and vulgar characters in so many Judd Apatow comedies over the past eight years) seems listless at times. Still, moments like Joyce tackling a five-pound eating challenge at a Texas steakhouse, or getting soused at a hotel bar following an argument with Andy, are at least fleetingly droll.

On balance, it’s difficult to discern just what it was about this project that lured Streisand out of semi-retirement. Considering her prodigious lifetime earnings and notoriously-exorbitant concert ticket prices, money was unlikely to be the deciding factor (though the film’s reported budget, some $40M, is scarcely reflected in the final product). The script, as-shot, offers nothing challenging, revelatory, or noteworthy by any reasonable metric.

If you like the brand of family comedy from such films as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” or the aforementioned “Meet the Parents,” you’ll probably find “The Guilt Trip” tolerable, if forgettable. Anyone who prefers shopworn but uncontroversial light comedy will be at home, and if you enjoyed any of director Anne Fletcher’s formulaic rom-com efforts, like “27 Dresses,” or “The Proposal,” you’ll probably leave the theater happy. For those who prefer a bit more quirkiness with their familial funny, try Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” instead.