Our Idiot Brother is the story of a kind hearted, but misguided guy, played by Paul Rudd, who tries to reconnect with his family after a stint in jail. The title is a bit misleading because the character isn’t stupid; he just tries to look for the best in people while being somewhat gullible. He gets arrested for selling pot to a uniformed police officer. But the cop tricks him after pleading for some because he was having a tough week. It’s a dumb move, but not as dumb as it sounds out of context.
Once he is released (for good behavior of course) he cycles through living with his mother and three sisters, moving out as each gets fed up with him. Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, and Elizabeth Banks play the sisters. Then Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, Kathryn Hahn and others are thrown in there to make sure every scene has a familiar face. So there’s definitely no denying the star power on display in the film.
The movie was promoted as a typical Apatow-esque comedy, which doesn’t seems like it would be stretch considering the cast, but it’s actually quite different. Bordering an indie feel, Rudd actually plays a fairly complex character. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch either to say this is the actor’s best performance to date.
There are even moments in the middle of Idiot Brother where I found myself thinking I really liked this movie, but the final third is just a bit too messy plot wise. In one swift montage everything’s resolved from the brink of disaster. It just doesn’t fit the rest of the story. The rise in fame of Scott and Jones leads me to want more screen time for their characters, but with the four siblings in the fray there’s hardly time. And what about the jokes? They’re pretty good too. But I guess that’s why the movie wasn’t pushed as an indie; the jokes aren’t existential…or pretentious. (8.8 out of 10)
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