Peep World

Plot

At a dinner celebrating the 70th birthday of their father Henry Meyerwitz (Ron Rifkin), tensions among the four Meyerwitz siblings explode thanks to the success of the youngest son, Nathan (Ben Schwartz), whose new novel Peep World is a thinly veiled portrait of the family. The best-selling expose reveals the oldest, "responsible" son, Jack (Michael C. Hall), as a porn addict, the daughter, Cheri (Sarah Silverman), as a catty drama queen, and the third son, Joel (Rainn Wilson), as a living disaster with a loony plan to change his life.

The story takes place over the course of a single day. Jack, a struggling architect, is stressed about the well-being of his wife and unborn son. Cheri, an actress, wants to sue Nathan for damages since she is unable to get work. Joel, an incompetent divorce lawyer, juggles mounting financial troubles while maintaining a relationship with his client Mary (Taraji P. Henson). Nathan finds little happiness with his success due to the ongoing turmoil. Jack's pregnant wife Laura (Judy Greer) discovers him masturbating in an adult video store. Cheri continues to rant about the book and upcoming movie, but decides to attend the dinner with her religious friend Ephraim (Stephen Tobolowsky). Joel misses Mary's divorce hearing. After being given a shot for premature ejaculation issues, Nathan causes a scene during his book signing with an unwanted erection. After his publicist Meg (Kate Mara) helps him "relieve" his problem, she reluctantly accompanies him to his father's birthday dinner.

The four siblings meet at the restaurant along with their mother Marilyn (Lesley Ann Warren). Everyone is surprised when their father introduces his new girlfriend Amy (Alicia Witt), who is not only half his age, but also the actress playing Cheri in the film adaptation of the book. The family quarrels during dinner. Henry deems his children ungrateful and reveals that Amy is pregnant. Marilyn claims the children always blame someone else for their problems. The dinner ends abruptly when Henry chokes on a piece of food. Jack performs CPR, and the family rushes him to the hospital.

While waiting, Cheri asks, "What do we do if he dies?" Jack replies, "We'll live." A doctor appears to give the family news. A narrator then explains that Henry finally got his family together, though he almost died for that to occur.

Cast

Reception

Peep World received negative reviews, only garnering 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 27/100, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine criticized the film for telling predictable storylines with unlikable characters that try to be sympathised in a last act redemption, concluding that "By then, Peep World has spent so much time abusing and reviling its characters that it’s impossible to see them as anything but useless." He gave the film a 1 out of 4 stars. Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times said the script falters with "excruciating" humor and affection among the characters "feeling false than touching". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised the performances of Wilson, Henson, Hall and Greer for being the most human in the cast, saying they "help to distract you from the flat jokes, ethnic clichés and formulaic relationships noisily vying for your attention," but found the rest of the film generic, calling it "A family circus of dysfunction that's so familiar you may feel tempted to place bets on how everything will shake out." Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News said that the cast manage to raise the script, singling out Greer and Silverman as giving the most genuine dramatic portrayals of their characters. She gave the film 3 out of 5 stars.