'Idiot Brother' a smart comedy - z* Lifestyle* - capecodtimes.com - Hyannis, MA
'Idiot Brother' a smart comedy
Imagine being so guileless that speaking the truth comes naturally to you, regardless of the circumstances.
Imagine having no filter.
Imagine having faith in people to the point that you always assume they have the best intentions.
Would that make you an idiot?
According to "Our Idiot Brother," yes, at least to a degree. But this witty, lighthearted film suggests that maybe it shouldn't be that way.
Paul Rudd plays long-haired Ned, the naive hippie title character, who returns to his family having lost his dog, his house and his girl after a short stint in prison for handing over a bag of pot to a uniformed cop (who wins Ned's sympathy by claiming he really needs some).
He first moves in with his mom (Shirley Knight), then goes from one sister to another — there are three, Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) and Liz (Emily Mortimer) — disrupting their lives by unintentionally exposing secrets and lies.
The film manages to be predictable and meandering at the same time. You know essentially where it's going — the goofball proving to be the wisest of all — but it takes its time getting there with a series of episodes and encounters.
Normally, this would be a bad combination, but here it all works, and works well.
There's a lot of warmth in this movie, mostly involving Ned's relationships — with his mother and siblings, Natalie's live-in lover (Rashida Jones), Miranda's best-pal neighbor (Adam Scott), Liz's young son (Matthew Mindler), and others. Steve Coogan, as Liz's philandering husband, plays the only character who seems soulless — though Coogan, as usual, makes an amusingly jerky cad.
But perhaps the key reason for the film's success is that Rudd wisely never patronizes his own character by playing him as dumb. Oblivious, yes, but not dumb. He's blinded by the generosity with which he regards others; he's so good-hearted that he assumes a good-heartedness in others.
There's a quick scene, almost a throwaway gag, in which Ned's in a crowded subway train and asks a young guy sitting next to him to hold a stack of money for a second. The young stranger is shocked, but instead of dashing off with the loot, he does exactly what Ned assumes he will do: He holds it, then hands it back.
It's a funny moment, but it's also a telling one. It suggests that, true to Ned's philosophy, if you expect the best of people, in the end they might live up to it. And that it's worth the risk.
'Idiot Brother' a smart comedy - z* Lifestyle* - capecodtimes.com - Hyannis, MA
'Idiot Brother' a smart comedy
Imagine being so guileless that speaking the truth comes naturally to you, regardless of the circumstances.
Imagine having no filter.
Imagine having faith in people to the point that you always assume they have the best intentions.
Would that make you an idiot?
According to "Our Idiot Brother," yes, at least to a degree. But this witty, lighthearted film suggests that maybe it shouldn't be that way.
Paul Rudd plays long-haired Ned, the naive hippie title character, who returns to his family having lost his dog, his house and his girl after a short stint in prison for handing over a bag of pot to a uniformed cop (who wins Ned's sympathy by claiming he really needs some).
He first moves in with his mom (Shirley Knight), then goes from one sister to another — there are three, Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) and Liz (Emily Mortimer) — disrupting their lives by unintentionally exposing secrets and lies.
The film manages to be predictable and meandering at the same time. You know essentially where it's going — the goofball proving to be the wisest of all — but it takes its time getting there with a series of episodes and encoun
ters.
Normally, this would be a bad combination, but here it all works, and works well.
There's a lot of warmth in this movie, mostly involving Ned's relationships — with his mother and siblings, Natalie's live-in lover (Rashida Jones), Miranda's best-pal neighbor (Adam Scott), Liz's young son (Matthew Mindler), and others. Steve Coogan, as Liz's philandering husband, plays the only character who seems soulless — though Coogan, as usual, makes an amusingly jerky cad.
But perhaps the key reason for the film's success is that Rudd wisely never patronizes his own character by playing him as dumb. Oblivious, yes, but not dumb. He's blinded by the generosity with which he regards others; he's so good-hearted that he assumes a good-heartedness in others.
There's a quick scene, almost a throwaway gag, in which Ned's in a crowded subway train and asks a young guy sitting next to him to hold a stack of money for a second. The young stranger is shocked, but instead of dashing off with the loot, he does exactly what Ned assumes he will do: He holds it, then hands it back.
It's a funny moment, but it's also a telling one. It suggests that, true to Ned's philosophy, if you expect the best of people, in the end they might live up to it. And that it's worth the risk.