Our Idiot Brother

After Our Idiot Brother was over, I appreciated it the same way I did Identity Thief. Both movies were marketed as comedies... Yet, I didn't laugh very much. What I DID like though, was the way the characters were written in the two films. In Identity Thief, the jerk criminal played by Melissa McCarthy goes through a great personality transformation over the course of the movie, which is surprising, convincing and very sweet. If I ever watch it again, it's that I'd concentrate on... Not the negligible attempts at humour.

In Our Idiot Brother, the chap mentioned in the title as portrayed by Paul Rudd is a fool, yes... In his very first scene he sells cannabis to a police officer. IN UNIFORM. After his prison sentence has elapsed, he suffers the humiliation of losing his girlfriend and dog, before being forced to move in with his mother. At this point, observing his general idiocy and habit of letting people walk all over him, my empathy level for this guy stood at absolutely zero. Then, his three sisters enter stage left.

ALL of them have problems. One is a lesbian who's just fallen pregnant from a fling with a man. Another is married to Alan Partridge, who's banging a ballerina. The last one either gets a HOT story for her work as a journalist, or she might face the sack. Yep, it's yet ANOTHER dysfunctional All-American family (Still, watching a feature length flick about The Waltons would be rather dull, wouldn't you agree?)

Despite their own mounting difficulties, each one's opinion of their dopey brother range from tolerance to outright embarrassment. Yet, due to his happy-go-lucky attitude and general earnestness, he somehow helps each one out (albeit unintentionally for the most part) by just being his goofy, charming self. Not that they recognise this, though... And he eventually becomes a conduit for their own insecurities and frustrations, until it looks like the entire family might break up.

With a superb cast and witty, truthful dialogue, Our Idiot Brother, in it's quite short running length barely puts a foot wrong, in giving us a bunch of people who's lives we care about and proving that sometimes the idiot of the family can be the smartest one. I must say that being around someone like this all the time in real life would drive me CRAZY... I like those who are a little more confrontational and a little less eager to please. But you can't deny the impact he has on changing the lives of his siblings for the better... And for that alone, he earns my respect.

Very well done... 7/10

This movie IS a comedy. There are many types of comedy and you don't have to laugh out loud the whole time for it to be a comedy. The movie is funny, charming, and very cute.

It really isn't about Ned's philosophy of expecting the best of others and seeing the good in them because even thought some people don't, and it can hurt you, more people do and everyone is better for it. It's about family dynamics, life choices, and learning to accept your own actions.

By accepting responsibility for your own actions you are able to free yourself to be more accepting of other people despite their flaws. Because we all have flaws.

Ned is less of a protagonist and more of a catalyst for change in his sisters' lives. The only reason I don't give this movie a 9 star rating is because the ending is a little on the weak side. They could have stopped the movie a few minutes earlier and it would have been stronger.

As I write this review at the end of August, 2011, I realize it's my last one of a good summer, and the movie, Our Idiot Brother, is a good movie. It's a light-hearted, low-key comedy about a hippie brother Ned (Paul Rudd) returning home from prison for selling pot to a uniformed policeman.

That little episode that put him in jail is not only humorous because of Ned's naiveté but also because of his big heart that would empathize with the seemingly depressed cop and sell him the weed. Ned is a sweet idealist who believes the best about his fellow humans and rarely is disappointed. Although he has been a biodynamic farmer but now doesn't have a job, his real job is turning his family honest, sister by sister, without even trying, without even knowing that his Ibsen-like Wild Duck openness has changed lives for the better.

For instance, when he forces his sister Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) to be honest with her publisher about a source for an important story, she eventually is better for the setback. A little like Forrest Gump with less cluelessness, Ned changes things with the force of his own honesty.

His three sisters are not wicked witches; they're just New Yorkers who have lost their way in marriage, sexual orientation, or plain old occupation. Director Jesse Peretz keeps the cast underplaying as he allows the ripening of their lives through the gentle ministrations of this child-like brother.

While I always favor the outré Royal Tenenbaums or eccentric Little Miss Sunshine, it's pleasant to experience a relatively mild comedy about family dysfunction and want more.

A hilarious movie written for Paul Rudd: what more could we want?

Rudd plays Ned, a stoner who has frizzled his neurons to the point that he has lost any ability to detect or dish out B.S. The poster child for what it means to be ingenuous, Ned is a trusting, playful, adorable stray puppy who isn't quite housebroken. So you-know-what hits the fan when his three sisters serially take him in after his release from jail. He's nothing but tsuris. It's no wonder that his most enduring relationship is with his dog, Willie Nelson.

Thanks to Rudd's everyman persona and the genial obliviousness he brings to Ned, you can't help but feel empathy. As with a suspense film where the audience knows what's going to happen but the characters are still in the dark, you want to yell out to warn Ned before he screws up again. His perfect comic timing and the made-to-order script make sure you get the most laughs from his predicament. Luckily, there's more to him than just bad luck. He's also an endearing white angel on the shoulders of his sisters, helping them fight their devils as he becomes an unwitting catalyst for change.

The movie's impressively talented and good-looking cast includes Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Elizabeth Banks (looking a lot like Parker Posey) as sisters. What's more, Rashinda Jones and Hugh Dancy add to the already high eye-candy quotient. Steve Coogan plays Ned's deliciously distasteful brother-in-law in his inimitable unpleasant-guy way.

The film is smartly directed by Jesse Peretz from a story he developed with his sister, Evgenia Peretz. I saw this at the Sundance screening in Brookline, Massachusetts, where director Peretz said they wrote it for Rudd, whom he clearly enjoys working with, and who wouldn't? Even though they stuck to the script, Rudd improvised at least two of the movie's funniest bits.

A fun ride throughout, the film only has a couple of weak spots. One scene has Ned comfortably telling a white lie, something so out of character it was jolting to the point of distraction. The ending could use some reshaping, and perhaps it might get some before general release. But even as is, this movie is about as charming and hilarious as Rudd can be, which is quite sizable.

Jesse Peretz's 'Our Idiot Brother' is a decent watch, but what stands tall in this film, is, without a shed of doubt, Paul Rudd's lovable performance in the central role. The actor has never been so convincing before!

'Our Idiot Brother' tells the story of an idealistic man who intrudes and wreaks havoc in each of his three sisters' lives.

The film begins well, dips in the middle, but luckily, culminates properly. As said, it's a decent watch, that never really bores or loses it's pace. Evgenia Peretz & David Schisgall's Screenplay is good, but it could've been better, especially post 40-minutes. Jesse Peretz Directs this comedy-drama, ably. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are fair.

Performance-Wise: Paul Rudd delivers his careers most lovable/convincing performance in here. He literally owns the film. As his sisters, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer & Zooey Deschanel, are first-rate. Kathryn Hahn is perfect. Rashida Jones is passable. Steve Coogan is as usual. Others lend support.

On the whole, 'Our Idiot Brother' is a time-pass fare. A must watch for Rudd fanatics.