Rating 2 1/2 stars (out of 4)

We're the Millers desperately wants to be as funny as The Hangover. It wants to belong in the same category, it is funny but far from memorable.

The plot is simple: Down on his luck, pot dealer David (Jason Sudeikis), must pay a debt to his boss by smuggling an unknown quantity of marihuana from Mexico into the United States. To cover up his very illegal mission David decides to create a fake family, "The Millers". As he says, "families don't get a second look (from cops or border patrol)". David recruits his virgin, sweet kid neighbor Kenny (Will Pouter), and a runaway teenager (Emma Roberts) to play his son and daughter. David asks his stripper neighbor, Rose (Jennifer Aniston), to pose as a wife and mom. Rose is reluctant at first but, like David, she is an adult who has refused to get her act together and through a series of events she is forced to go along for the ride.

Once on the road they must remain together as they battle a Mexican drug dealer and deal with an actual family (the Fitzgeralds) who insist in sharing a lot of time with them. As the plot develops the jokes continue one after the other, some going further than you might have expected. There's that spider bite scene, ugh, and a scene on the art of kissing which in my opinion goes on a little too long. The movie doesn't shy from the R-rated events. The f-bombs and sexual jokes that are borderline vulgar are found scene after scene. Some of the best scenes involve the second family, the Fitzgeralds. The reason these scenes work so well is due to the actors, Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn are comedic gods. They elevate every scene to another kind of funny. Another scene I still don't fully understand involves Rose stripping for the Mexican drug dealer. She looks great, no question about that, but I'm not sure what the scene is trying to do or say. Is it an actress in her 40's saying "I still got it" (she does), is it supposed to be just plain funny, are the filmmakers exploiting her sexuality? I still don't know but I couldn't enjoy the scene to it's fullest because these questions kept bugging me.

However in the middle of all those jokes the movie has a sentimentality and a message attached to it that I was not expecting. This group of lonely losers come to realize the reason for their anger or sadness was their need for a family. They are not a perfect family, but nor are the Fitzgeralds or any other family for that matter. When it comes to families, or in this case, fake families, what truly matters is to stay together even through the difficult times.

Every actor brings their A-game. I have never been a big fan of Jason Sudeikis but here he proves he can lead his own movie. Jennifer Aniston is great, specially in those more emotional scenes. Someone needs to tell her agent that she needs to do more dramatic roles. Emma Roberts is efficient and Will Pouter is a scene stealer, his take on "Waterfalls" by TLC is quite hilarious.

We're The Millers is not a bad comedy but it is not the great one it wants to be. It is a crowd pleaser and you will laugh, thats guaranteed, but that's about it. In my book that's not bad for an end of the summer comedy.

Note: If you were a fan of the TV show Friends, which you probably were, who wasn't?, stay for the bloopers during the credits.

We’re The Millers opens nationwide on August 7, 2013.