Brother Nature

Above expectations I found this a worth viewing movie. In the beginning a bit dull but towards end interesting and funny developments occur. In such an environment they could have added a tiny bit more suspense to it especially with congress in view. But to me overall impression; funnier than some mainstream high budget comedies.

Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan,attempt to prove that they have what it takes to be like other Saturday Night Live not ready for Prime Time players, who have become movie stars with Brother Nature.

Produced by their boss over at SNL, Lorne Michaels, he gives these two (and another one of his employees, Kenan Thompson) the time off to make this flick.

Killan plays a campaign manager, about to run for congress at the same time propose to his girlfriend, when he goes on a weekend get away to meet her family that includes her sister's boyfriend, played by Moynihan whose far too into the idea that the two could poetically be brother-In-Laws

Nothing out of the ordinary that makes this very funny, expect for Moynihan whose performance does stand out despite Killan playing the lead straight man.

Kumail Nanjiani as Riggleman, Killan's friend and co worker in the movie, had some note worthy laughs as well, and the chemistry between Bill Pullman and Rita Wilson was hilarious too.

Altogether though it works if you are a Saturday Night Live fan cause that's the comedy that's displayed here.

What can a middle age movie lover tell you about Brother Romance? I'll start with that I was immediately alarmed about the more than a passing resemblance to "The Great Outdoors" (TGO). A film about a man who goes to a cabin for a holiday only to find it ruined by a brother in law. Brother Romance is basically a remake, and, as with most of our current crop of remakes doesn't do it as well. Which is troubling, TGO is not exactly a classic (although I like it, John Candy is gold), meaning Brother Romance falls squarely in to the "meh" rating of films.

Acting and characters are in line with the genre. Generally scenarios are OTT and over played. The story line leans on plenty of clichés; Animal attacks, fart jokes, in laws messing things up, repentance of lead character. I could go on, but there's nothing more that needs to be said.

TGO is a better film, but being nearly 30 years old, probably won't hit the mark with younger audiences and I guess, Brother Romance will have to fill the spot to modernize lake based comedy of errors.

I liked it better when it was called Black Sheep. SNL writers should feel ashamed.

"Brother Nature" is reminiscent of countless comedies, ranging from "What About Bob" to "The Great Outdoors." It's one of those classic formulas where a straight-faced, straight-laced guy (in this case, Taran Killiam, from "SNL") encounters someone who is obnoxiously wacky and has a potential mean streak that no one else ever seems to notice (Bobby Moynihan, also from "SNL").

Killiam's character becomes more and more exasperated, and there are hints at times that Moynihan's character is deliberately sabotaging him a la "The Cable Guy." The first half is quite funny -- Killiam is a weak lead, but Moynihan is hilarious, and has a number of moments that made me laugh out loud.

But they don't really go anywhere with the idea that Moynihan is subversively destroying Killiam (the film seems to hint at it, and then promptly drops it); they also opt for a safe conclusion by fundamentally changing the nature of Moynihan's character, as, in the first half, he's an obnoxious goofball who no one would ever like, but towards the end he's suddenly a calmer, more sympathetic version of the same character, as if his apparently intentional attacks on Killiam earlier in the film never happened.

Whether this is studio intervention (the ending certainly seems like something that would be tacked on after poor test screenings), who knows, but ultimately this movie goes from a 7/10 to a 5/10 simply because its second half egregiously missteps and the movie is never able to recover from it.

Those early scenes with Moynihan, though, reveal great potential for the actor.