Jeff, Who Lives at Home – review

The Duplass brothers have progressed from The Puffy Chair , a no-budget, no-plot, mumblecore mini-classic, through the slight, romantic comedy Cyrus , to the fast-moving mainstream farce Jeff, Who Lives at Home . They pack a string of jokes and a succession of surprises into the tale of a whimsical slacker, who sits at home thinking everything happens for a reason, and his frantic married brother, who's out wheeling and dealing in a world he believes to be in a state of chaos. The film takes place during a single day in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and ends up with a bizarre encounter on the road to New Orleans with their widowed mother and the elder brother's estranged wife. The film has a dark symmetry and dangerous moments that prove to be as funny as its sunnier ones.