Review of Cyrus (2010) by Laura O — 21 Jul 2012

The film's main accomplishment, it seems, was that it didn't ultimately turn into a farce, even though it sort of teetered on the edge for a large chunk the movie. I was half expecting the john c. reilly and jonah hill characters to resort to competing in a string of increasingly crazy hi-jinks. the set-up and the tone just seemed to call for it. the fact that it never went there, and in fact had something to say in the end (though nothing mind-blowing), was an achievement. but is that enough? all I came away with was a film that seemed to subtly tout its differences from more mainstream movies.

Credible acting by everyone in the film, as well as interesting (seemingly) improvised dialogue, were highlights, and certainly added to the realism necessary for a film that needs to be mostly believable for it to work. still, I was left feeling weirdly unsatisfied... 3 stars.