Sisters

There are a few laugh-out-loud moments in Sisters, but there are notably more moments that earn little more than a chuckle. By the end, it feels like you just gave two hours of courtesy laughs to a tour guide. Fans of the phenomenally talented Tina Fey and Amy Poehler may find it enjoyable, if they see it at all: Universal picked the worst possible release date (against Star Wars!) of 2015 to unveil this limited-scope comedy.

Poehler plays the Leslie Knope-ish Maura, a square do-gooder who puts others first and her own happiness second. Her complete opposite is her sister Kate (Fey), a party-girl turned single mom who can’t keep a job. For sisters who are so different, they get along well, which is good because we don’t want to see Fey and Poehler fight – they’re better when their chemistry clicks.

Wisely, the script by Paula Pell (Saturday Night Live) gives them a common enemy: Their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) are selling the Orlando home they grew up in, and the girls have returned to talk them out of it. They fail. With a house inspection looming, their old rooms to clean out, and the knowledge that Maura never had sex in the house, the girls decide to throw one last grand bash, just like they did years earlier. They invite friends from high school who still live in town. One person they don’t invite is frenemy Brinda (Maya Rudolph), who crashes the party anyway.

The night starts simple enough – like a funeral wake, literally – then gets a bit naughty, but stops short of the crass raunchiness other comedies seem eager to showcase. It’s hard to tell if it would’ve helped or hurt the movie to be more extreme. Fey and Poehler are at their best with wordplay and cracking jokes rather than physical humor, which is why them shouting one-liners at a hot neighbor while he’s gardening, and other wisecracks, are the film’s highlights.

Other moments feel forced. A dance routine to Snow’s “Informer” doesn’t seem genuine, and a sequence in which the neighbor gets a toy stuck in an uncomfortable place is, well, uncomfortable. Director Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) seems obliged to be bawdy rather than allowing the story to play out organically. That’s not how you get heartfelt laughs.

Fey and Poehler are two of the smartest comediennes working today, and one can’t help but wonder how much of their brilliance was lost because they didn’t write the script. Sisters should have marveled us, but the jokes are hit and miss. You’ll laugh, but not enough.

SISTERS (2 1/2) Directed by Jason Moore • Starring Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, John Leguizamo, Maya Rudolph • Rated R • 118 mins. • At Maya Cinemas, Century Cinemas Del Monte, Northridge Cinemas, Centuty Marina.