Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother is probably the most harmless movie to come out this year, a very light and entertaining piece with a remarkably warm heart. At first I was frustrated by how thinly written the supporting characters were and how the sisters are some of the worst people put on film, but ultimately it's a necessary evil to get the film where it needs to go. It's a nice little study on the cynicism and selfishness of today's culture and how someone with a good heart and a sunny disposition just gets taken advantage of and abused for being decent.

There are a lot of funny moments throughout, most of them coming from Paul Rudd who plays a unique character for him (the rest of the actors were cast exactly in their wheelhouse) and is really just charming and kind the whole time. You really believe him in this role and Ned could have come off as too dim or annoyingly sweet, but Rudd makes him so likable and I just wanted to give him a big hug and hang out with him the whole time. Sure, there are plenty of flaws with how the characters were written, but in the end that's insignificant and just not what the film is about. It's an easy and touching film that sheds a light on how awful the majority has become, just like it's main character. Such a relaxed and easy viewing.

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.

As has been stated many times already, Ned (Paul Rudd) is not an idiot. Well, he kind of is. He lacks understanding of normal social protocol, and not in a genius kind-of-way, but as a hippie. Prone to frequent breakdowns in communication, one such instance lands him in jail. When he's out, he's off to live with his family. His sisters all treat him like he's an idiot. Hence, the title, "Our Idiot Brother."

Ned is a good and caring guy. His sisters are completely different and completely different from each other — one is even British. In their own way, they are all selfish, demanding and insensitive people. But don't worry, Ned is our hero and protagonist. If you are currently sighing in relief, I understand. A career spanning two decades with 30-plus movie credits, and we've only seen Paul Rudd in the lead role a handful of times.

Rudd has infused Ned with all the charm, likability and overall appeal that we have come to expect from him. Surprisingly, the less likable actresses playing the three unlikable sisters were at least able to add some humour to their characters. The three supporting actors probably could have stolen the show if they were given more time: Steve Coogan as the husband with a penchant for exhibitionism; Hugh Dancy as a creepy artist turned cultist; and Adam Scott as Rudd's long lost brother — not literally, he just has the same presence.

"Our Idiot Brother" is a comedy, one of those heart-warming comedies, where all of the characters start coming around to see the value of having Ned in their life. It takes them longer than us to realize his positive aspects because most of them are not fully-developed characters, especially the mother, I'm not sure what the point of her was.

Unfortunately, it's not a particularly funny comedy, but it is a likable one. A few ill-fated groin jokes would have been better off in a different movie, and a few jokes lost their humour after they appeared in the trailer, and after that there's only a few left to discover. It is funny, but not as funny as you would expect a comedy to be. But did I mention likable? Because that's what "Our Idiot Brother" is: sweet, charming and overall appealing.

This film tells how a man who is so kind and honest that he manages to mess everyone's life up, including his own.

Ned is a young man with three sisters, and he goes to jail because he gave marijuana to a policeman who asks for it. He might appear very stupid to people, and indeed he is portrayed to be an idiot. However, it does beg the question whether an honest existence and a simplistic life is an undesirable or even a wrong life. I also had the thought that Ned in fact is living happily, unlike his three sisters who think he is stupid. The ending is a sweet and touching one, even though it is rather poorly developed and it feels like a very sudden paradigm shift for the characters involved. Overall, "Our Idiot Brother" is quite enjoyable as it is funny throughout, and is touching in the end.

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.