Our Idiot Brother
Writers: David Schisgall and Evgenia Peretz
Director: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Steve Coogan
Director: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Steve Coogan
Paul Rudd is an actor who has slowly but surely become the go to straight man for the Judd Apatow factory of comedy, however in Our Idiot Brother, Rudd gets the chance to grow his hair long and indulge in the shenanigans that he has previously had to react to, rather than cause. Rudd plays Ned, a man who is not “idiotic” but more wildly naive and an ultra-optimist, who likes to see the good in everyone and everything. When he sells drugs to a police officer, Ned has a brief stint in jail. When on parole he bounces across the hospitality of his three sisters (Played by Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer) causing and uncovering drama, leading to a rebuilding of his fractured family.
Our Idiot Brother is a film, which could have easily gone one way. The character of Ned could have been actually idiotic, with his character being laughed at rather than sympathized with. The film could have been much more desperate in its search for laughs and gone down much more crude and/or over the top tangents. Instead Our Idiot Brother is much more a cross between drama and comedy, with it never being dramatic enough to be one but never funny enough to be the other. While this sounds like a film which cannot decide what it wants to be and does not have a consistent tone, Our Idiot Brother is tonally one of the more in control movies of the year, a surprise given just how much the material lends itself to more out of control treatment.
Our Idiot Brother is a film about people and the characters are surprisingly and thankfully given centre stage. Thanks to a terrific cast, all the characters feel genuine even if some of them are at points unbearably selfish. Paul Rudd gives a solid performance in the lead role and he plays it perfectly, never crossing a boundary and never going too over the top with his role. This is a performance, which demonstrates the potential of Paul Rudd, with his charade-induced outburst towards the film’s conclusion being a surprisingly well-played and oddly poignant dramatic and emotional moment.
The three sisters all have their problems and Ned’s purpose is to shine a light on how his family is more misguided than him. While at times these sisters can be so unlikable (One’s a cheat, the other a ruthless reporter and the other an over-protective mother) that you start to enjoy the viewing experience a little less, their performances, the script and the performance of Paul Rudd stop the film from becoming over-populated with privileged characters moaning and stabbing each other in the back. It could have been very easy for the film to fall into that trap however just as the film veers away from over the top comedy, it is also veers away from drama that is 100% based upon nasty, unlikable characters.
At 90 minutes, Our Idiot Brother is a very swift film, which never drags at any point. The film holds your attention and despite the fact that its ending might be a bit too drawn out and contrived for some, for the most part seems to know just when to stop with certain scenes. The film also has a lot of heart and it is impossible to dislike Our Idiot Brother as the message behind it and its execution is so charming and harmless. Ultimately Our Idiot Brother manages to veer away from the elements of its two different genres that could have been its downfall, instead providing a heart-warming, character based film, which does not outstay its welcome.
Steve Coogan has a role in this, which is a really interesting choice on his part. Instead of playing a comedic character, Coogan is arguably one of the, if not the film’s “bad guy” as the wife of the Emily Mortimer character, Steve Coogan plays to perfection this pretentious, pathetic, prude of a man and I hope that we see more of Coogan playing roles such as this, stretching himself out of his comedic box. It’s a supporting performance which comes from an unexpected source, yet it is all the more effective for it, as Coogan and Rudd come out of this film demonstrating that they can do more than straight man and Alan Partridge.
However this isn’t anything dramatically drastic from Rudd and Coogan. Rudd is given little to chew on dramatically as he is given the task of being the film’s moral compass and keeping us anchored when the film does focus on the more despicable figures of its cast. Rudd could be given more to do regarding the drama of this film, as save for one scene (Which I mentioned earlier as a sign of his dramatic potential) the film doesn’t seem incredibly interested in taking him out of the Ned stereotype box. The Coogan plot line is also dropped half way through and I think it would have been good to see a bit more of that storyline and a little bit more from Coogan.
Deschanel, Banks and Mortimer all give solid performances. The three of them have rather one-note characters and you have seen their story arcs in many different films. They all however do they a good job in their roles even if they aren’t stretching themselves, or doing anything particularly different from what they have done before like Rudd and Coogan. T.J. Miller is consistently amusing in one of the film’s smaller roles and I await the spin-off focusing on him and Ned building those candle bins.
Our Idiot Brother is not perfect, it could develop things more, it could have had a little bit more weight, it could have been a little funnier and it could have had a much, much better ending. However despite the fact that it’s not setting the world on fire, Our Idiot Brother left me with a smile on my face, is well acted across the board and didn’t bore me one bit. It is a film with genuine heart and veered away from everything that I was worried it would be.
Our Idiot Brother is a film, which could have easily gone one way. The character of Ned could have been actually idiotic, with his character being laughed at rather than sympathized with. The film could have been much more desperate in its search for laughs and gone down much more crude and/or over the top tangents. Instead Our Idiot Brother is much more a cross between drama and comedy, with it never being dramatic enough to be one but never funny enough to be the other. While this sounds like a film which cannot decide what it wants to be and does not have a consistent tone, Our Idiot Brother is tonally one of the more in control movies of the year, a surprise given just how much the material lends itself to more out of control treatment.
Our Idiot Brother is a film about people and the characters are surprisingly and thankfully given centre stage. Thanks to a terrific cast, all the characters feel genuine even if some of them are at points unbearably selfish. Paul Rudd gives a solid performance in the lead role and he plays it perfectly, never crossing a boundary and never going too over the top with his role. This is a performance, which demonstrates the potential of Paul Rudd, with his charade-induced outburst towards the film’s conclusion being a surprisingly well-played and oddly poignant dramatic and emotional moment.
The three sisters all have their problems and Ned’s purpose is to shine a light on how his family is more misguided than him. While at times these sisters can be so unlikable (One’s a cheat, the other a ruthless reporter and the other an over-protective mother) that you start to enjoy the viewing experience a little less, their performances, the script and the performance of Paul Rudd stop the film from becoming over-populated with privileged characters moaning and stabbing each other in the back. It could have been very easy for the film to fall into that trap however just as the film veers away from over the top comedy, it is also veers away from drama that is 100% based upon nasty, unlikable characters.
At 90 minutes, Our Idiot Brother is a very swift film, which never drags at any point. The film holds your attention and despite the fact that its ending might be a bit too drawn out and contrived for some, for the most part seems to know just when to stop with certain scenes. The film also has a lot of heart and it is impossible to dislike Our Idiot Brother as the message behind it and its execution is so charming and harmless. Ultimately Our Idiot Brother manages to veer away from the elements of its two different genres that could have been its downfall, instead providing a heart-warming, character based film, which does not outstay its welcome.
Steve Coogan has a role in this, which is a really interesting choice on his part. Instead of playing a comedic character, Coogan is arguably one of the, if not the film’s “bad guy” as the wife of the Emily Mortimer character, Steve Coogan plays to perfection this pretentious, pathetic, prude of a man and I hope that we see more of Coogan playing roles such as this, stretching himself out of his comedic box. It’s a supporting performance which comes from an unexpected source, yet it is all the more effective for it, as Coogan and Rudd come out of this film demonstrating that they can do more than straight man and Alan Partridge.
However this isn’t anything dramatically drastic from Rudd and Coogan. Rudd is given little to chew on dramatically as he is given the task of being the film’s moral compass and keeping us anchored when the film does focus on the more despicable figures of its cast. Rudd could be given more to do regarding the drama of this film, as save for one scene (Which I mentioned earlier as a sign of his dramatic potential) the film doesn’t seem incredibly interested in taking him out of the Ned stereotype box. The Coogan plot line is also dropped half way through and I think it would have been good to see a bit more of that storyline and a little bit more from Coogan.
Deschanel, Banks and Mortimer all give solid performances. The three of them have rather one-note characters and you have seen their story arcs in many different films. They all however do they a good job in their roles even if they aren’t stretching themselves, or doing anything particularly different from what they have done before like Rudd and Coogan. T.J. Miller is consistently amusing in one of the film’s smaller roles and I await the spin-off focusing on him and Ned building those candle bins.
Our Idiot Brother is not perfect, it could develop things more, it could have had a little bit more weight, it could have been a little funnier and it could have had a much, much better ending. However despite the fact that it’s not setting the world on fire, Our Idiot Brother left me with a smile on my face, is well acted across the board and didn’t bore me one bit. It is a film with genuine heart and veered away from everything that I was worried it would be.
Summary:
It’s no masterpiece but for 90 short minutes, Our Idiot Brother keeps you entertained with good performances and a lot of heart, avoiding the potential pitfalls of its material and emerging as a calling card for the potential of Paul Rudd.
Rating: 7/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts on Our Idiot Brother in the Your Say section.
Rating: 7/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts on Our Idiot Brother in the Your Say section.