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Jason Segal stars in a new movie, "Jeff, Who Lives At Home," written and directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, whose last feature film was "Cyrus." This one was filmed in their homestate of Louisiana.

Jeff, played by Segal, is 30 years old and lives in the basement of his childhood home. He doesn't do much with his life, while his mom, played by Susan Sarandon, works a mundane 9-to-5 office job.

Jeff loves the movie "Signs," is a big believer in destiny and feels that everything in his life happens for a reason. So when he gets a wrong number from a man looking for Kevin, he doesn't think it's just random. When his mom sends him out on errand to get wood glue, he begins an odyssey to figure out what it all means.

Along the way, he encounters his brother, Pat, played by Ed Helms. Pat is a selfish guy who's insensitive to his wife and he thinks she's cheating on him.

Sarandon's character is going through her own bout of loneliness and there's a subplot here about her getting flirty instant messages from a secret admirer at work.

The filmmakers offer a few interesting moments, but the overall picture doesn't really add up to much.

The Sarandon storyline is underdeveloped. The one concerning Ed Helms is just dopey and unconvincing, with a touch of desperate slapstick throw in to boot. As far as title character Jeff goes, we just don't really care that much about him.

The plot spins out of control, as the destiny thing, as depicted here, is too far-fetched and the filmmakers seem as lost at times as their characters.

There is a bright spot and that's the performances. Segal does his best with the weird and uninvolving material. Sarandon is genuine and believable, while the always great Judy Greer shines here as Helms' wife. But even these actors can't breathe that much life into material and direction that is sorely lacking.

Neil Rosen's Big Apple Rating: 1.5 Apples