The Guilt Trip

This film was not the greatest but it was not truly a waste of time.
The film is essentially a two person drama. Andy (Seth Rogen) is trying to start his own business. He has developed an environmentally safe cleaning product that is also non-toxic. However, businesses haven't bought this yet so he is ready to set out on a cross-country road trip so he can earn a living. Andy does have a problem and it comes in the form of his overprotective and annoying mother, Joyce (Barbra Streisand, doing well as the annoying mother). Though Andy's father died at least twenty years ago, she has barely dated since. Her life consists of calling Andy to tell him everything, visiting the GAP, doing yoga and joining Weight Watchers. Before Andy can begin his trip, she makes the mistake of telling him that she named him after her former boyfriend. So Andy looks this guy, it turns out he works in San Francisco. Andy decides to ask his mother on the trip with him, but doesn't tell her the real reason. It works, Joyce is in.
The rest of the movie plays out with them on the road and a few of the people they meet along the way. At the first hotel, the manager asks Andy if he and his lady need a room for the night. Then the car starts having some issues so they journey into a topless bar, but a stripper is able to mend the chair. It is after this when Joyce calls one of Andy's ex-girlfriends, Jessica, who is now married and hugely pregnant with another baby (though you never see the other children she claims she has). Here Joyce learns that Andy proposed to her a decade ago, when they were only eighteen. She said no, because they were too young and he promptly ended it with her. Too bad this was not discussed more, as the fact that Andy is still single is a big issue for Joyce.
Later, in Texas, Joyce succeeds in eating a fifty ounce steak in an hour and there she meets Ben, a potential love interest for her.
Then they arrive at Vegas, where Joyce hits the slots and Andy prepares for another presentation. They have not been going well up to this point. Here he also tells Joyce the truth about the trip and naturally she is devastated. Andy's presentation is not going well, until he decides to take his mother's advice and get the other person involved as this time it is being shown on QVC. He also drinks the gross liquid live on air. And it works, he gets an offer.
Joyce forgives him and they continue to San Francisco, only to discover that the man that has haunted her has died. It was his son (Adam Scott), named after the father, that he found. Joyce is crushed. But then she meets his daughter, named Joyce and all is right in the world. After all, she named him Andy because that name reminded her of someone and clearly he still thought of her, naming his daughter after a former girlfriend.
Later, they part ways at the airport, all the better for having made the trip. Joyce calls Ben, the guy from the restaurant in Texas, she is finally able to move on. Hopefully Andy can do the same.
The film is not bad, as there are a few laughs, though nothing truly hilarious along the way. The performances are fairly decent, though I just can't buy Seth Rogen as a geek organic chemist. But I can believe that he is Streisand's son. However, she is far too old for her role, though she doesn't look her age.
On the plus side, the plot is fairly good, with a few surprises along the way, which is always good. I also like how the movie is basically a two person drama, which are rare these days. Certainly, a love interest for Seth Rogen would have been much appreciated, but you can't always get what you want. Though there is nothing majorly wrong with this film, I doubt I will ever watch it again. I can't wait until Christmas when some good movies come out, movies that are actually worth my time. Grade: B