Movie Review: The Guilt Trip (2012)

 How bad was The Guilt Trip? I can't use stars to rate this movie. Stars don't apply. How about stab wounds? I would give it 3 stab wounds out of 4. It would be 4, but they let me live and I had to sit through the whole thing. They couldn't even cause a power failure and spare me. Two guys actually got in a huge fight right as the movie was starting and got booted out of the theater in the first 5 minutes. They were--as it turns out--the lucky ones.
The only thing I can really say about The Guilt Trip is that I feel really guilty that I subjected myself to that 1 hour and 37 minutes of crap, and I am never getting those 97 minutes back. It would be bad enough if it was just money, but these types of things stick with you. I used to have a very high opinion of Barbra Streisand, who is a known perfectionist, but while I still highly respect her, this has really taken her down a few notches in my view. I can't imagine how she was talked into agreeing to act in this piece of crap. And worse, she co-produced it, so she had some say. Shameful. Just Shameful. I usually put up a clip or trailer in the review. I won't this time. I like my friends. I wouldn't do that to you. It isn't right.
 Why did I end up going to this catastrophe? I was looking for a movie to see. I don't like going to the movies that have just come out, so that eliminated 4 or 5 really good ones that I will get to in a few weeks. I would have loved to see Django Unchained, but my wife would not be able to sit through that. So I will have to see that one later by myself. We had seen Jack Reacher two weeks earlier, so that was out as well. My choices were This Is 40, Parental Guidance or The Guilt Trip. I settled on The Guilt Trip. I had heard good things about it, but had not read any reviews. 
I have always loved Barbra Streisand and have rarely been disappointed by her. I wasn't this time either. She is great. That ends my positive comments about the movie.
I have heard the name Seth Rogen before, but knew nothing about him. So, since you all know me to be very blunt, here it is.
Most disappointing movie I have seen in ages. It was not funny in the least. Rogen can't act, he isn't funny, has no comedic timing, he doesn't project his voice well and has no chemistry whatsoever. The script was juvenile, predictable and plodding. The concept was good, but was botched from start to finish.
I felt bad for Barbra Streisand. It was like watching a true pro interact with a total no talent amateur. She tried to save it, but even she had no hope of doing that. It was not savable.
 

 You have no idea how bad it really is unless you actually sit through it. A total bomb. In the old days, if you delivered a movie like this to the studio, they would kill it. That bad. If Seth Rogen was my son and I was forced to sit in a car for 8 days and listen to him, this wouldn't be a comedy (which it wasn't anyway) but a murder mystery. Except there would be no mystery. I would have killed him pulling out of the car rental parking lot. The end. Movie over. And I would have gotten a standing ovation and a purple heart.
Since I didn't read any reviews, I was curious to see what they said about it. Pretty much what I just did, and I see it is going to be a money loser. Which isn't surprising. I would think word of mouth would be terrible on this one.
People were getting up and leaving before it was half done.
I have no clue how Seth Rogen got to this point, but he must have compromising pics of a studio exec. If he is an example of what plays these days in Hollywood, then I would rather watch old TV reruns until I go numb.

I have never seen Rogen before in anything, but he has no timing and no acting skill whatsoever. I can't imagine how he got this far. I have heard he plays stoners in other movies. I wish I was stoned out of my mind. Maybe he is funnier that way. It worked for Cheech and Chong.
A movie this bad should never be made. Good thing it will lose tons of money. Serves them right. And even worse, they had a huge star in Streisand and a very good premise, and they totally wasted it. Shame on them. 
If you have enemies,  and by enemies I mean people you really hate, like you would stab with a smile on your face, then send them to this. Otherwise, don't ever go near this, even if it is free on The Hallmark Channel at 2am and the only other option is the The Shopping Network. I beg you, by some Zirconia and count yourself lucky you read my review. I wish I had been so lucky.