MOVIE OF THE WEEK (8/26/11): OUR IDIOT BROTHER
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Steve Coogan, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, T.J. Miller, Shirley Knight, Sterling K. Brown, Matthew Mindler and Bob Stephenson
WRITER: Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall
DIRECTOR: Jesse Peretz
WEB SITE: http://www.ouridiotbrother.com/
THE PLOT: Long story short, Our Idiot Brother stars Paul Rudd as Ned, a nice enough guy who works as a farmer somewhere outside New York City with his girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn) ... That is until a police officer (Bob Stephenson) sort of tricks him into being dumb enough to sell him marijuana.
Paroled early for his good behavior, Ned now finds himself without a home (and his beloved dog, Willie Nelson). Moving in with his mother (Shirley Knight), Ned quickly realizes he should maybe try and move in with one of his sisters - but which one? There's Liz (Emily Mortimer), the one married to the English documentary filmmaker (Steve Coogan) with a son, River (Matthew Mindler) and an infant daughter named Echo (dually portrayed by wide-eyed babies Kayla and Summer Squiteri) ... There's Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), the career-first reporter who relies on her downstairs neighbor (Adam Scott) to help maintain a sense of order in her life ... And then there's Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), the lesbian one in a committed relationship with Cindy (Rashida Jones).
So what happens when Ned tries his hand at living with all three? You'll have to see the movie to find out!
THE TAKE: OK, since this movie will have been out for more than 24 hours by the time you get a chance to read this review (hey - it's been a BUSY week!), I'm going to brief. First things first, Our Idiot Brother is not - I repeat, NOT - a comedy. It's a light drama (i.e. there's nothing like cancer or something one of the characters is dealing with) sprinkled with comedic elements throughout. That's not a bad thing, but if you come to it with the impression that the movie is a hilarious riot as strongly hinted at in the film's trailer, you will leave disappointed.
Also, if you like movies where things are a bit more than one note in terms of both a story and its punchlines/tender moments, you may also have some issue with the movie as that's not happening here. The "real" plot (the "idiot" brother finds himself thrust into situations that are not always his fault, thus finding out/causing problems for his siblings that are actually more their fault although they can't realize it at the time) is pretty basic and repetitive, as are some of the jokes.
Here's what keeps the film watchable: Rudd's performance as Ned, Scott's understated showing as Jeremy coupled with the nice shots of humor interjected by T.J. Miller as Janet's new boyfriend/co-farmer Billy. Now, that is not to say that the female characters are bad by any means, it's just that they are fairly one dimensional as deemed necessary by the script. There's just not anything really dynamic going on with the characters, hence the reason I don't really have a lot to say about them. (Fair enough?) Rudd carries the film, Scott is good at playing the realistic guy and Miller is just goofy (and I mean that in a good way).
Throw in some choppy directing/directing (some scenes just end as abruptly as they occur) and what you walk away smiling about will be Rudd's performance. He makes Ned a likable enough guy that you root for, even when he's causing himself harm or inadvertently doing it to others.
PARTING SHOT: A film that's pretty basic in both its story and its execution, Our Idiot Brother isn't idiotic, but it's not exactly the most intelligent thing you'll watch, either.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN)*:
Comments
Post a Comment