Former SNL "Weekend Update" co-anchors Amy Poehler (2014's "They Came Together") and Tina Fey (2014's "This Is Where I Leave You") are such effortless screen partners it is hard to believe "Sisters" is only the second film they have headlined together, after 2008's "Baby Mama." If the finished product cannot match the sky-high expectations fans have built up over the last seven years, seeing them reunited--and as total-opposite siblings, to boot--hits the sweet spot. There is a bit of a scattered feel to this up-all-night, cameo-filled party farce, as if director Jason Moore (2012's "Pitch Perfect") and writer Paula Pell (TV's "Saturday Night Live") have seemingly tossed everything they could think of onto the ceiling in hopes it sticks, but its heart is strong, its messages affirming, and its mélange of acerbic humor delivered with relish.
Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) is a do-gooder nurse, responsible to a fault. Elder sister Kate (Tina Fey) is an impulsive, recently fired beautician and single mother whose teenage daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) has begun to pull away from her. When retired parents Bucky (James Brolin) and Deana (Dianne Wiest) announce to Maura they are planning to downsize and move out of their family home, they convince her to lure Kate to Orlando so they can clean out their childhood bedrooms. Kate initially doesn't take the news well, then formulates a crazy idea: invite all of their old high-school classmates over for a throwback blowout bash. For Maura, who has always lived her life on the straight and narrow, it is a chance to finally let loose the way she wished she had when they were teens. A flirtatious encounter with nice-guy handyman James (Ike Barinholtz) also could mean something more: finally moving on after a tough divorce.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
