Review of Our Idiot Brother (2011) by Joel M — 03 May 2012

"O Brother, Where are thou brains?" is what one might say upon meeting the protagonist Ned Rochlin in the sharp comedy "Our Idiot Brother". There are numerous idiotsyncrasies in Ned's bewildering behaviors, but there is gentle innocence about Ned that makes him a very appealing character. Ned is a Long Island slacker who goes to jail for selling marijuana to a uniformed officer; I did say he had plenty of idiotsyncrasies. After he gets released from prison, he reunites with his family consisting of an overprotective mother and his three sisters. Ned's sister act is comprised of the upstart Vanity Fair journalist Miranda, then there is Liz who is a mother of two and wife of a self- absorbed British documentary filmmaker, and finally there is Natalie the semi-bohemian lesbian who cheats on her woman with another man. Ned starts to do varying odd jobs for the three sisters and ends up in their habitat locations, spring-boarding from one sister to another. Inadvertently, Ned ends up causing havoc in his sisters' lives not due to malicious reasons, but because of his free-spirit ideals and his candid way of not hiding behind a façade. Sure Ned is not your model citizen and is not going to be running for a Nobel Peace Prize anytime soon, but his noble instincts are worthy for him to garner a Noble Peace Prize. The crust of "Our Idiot Brother" is how Director Jesse Peretz presents the interaction of siblings in dealing with insecurities, trust, rejection, sincerity, faithfulness, and all those other themes that brothers and sisters (from the same or another mother) deal with. Jesse wrote the film's hilarious screenplay with his sister Evgenia, and it's quite evident that each of them is not an idiot brother or sister. There is a lot to brotherly love in Paul Rudd's stupefying performance as Ned, one of the best comedic starring performances of the year. And let's not forget the rest of the Rochlin clan which also rocked; that would be Elizabeth Banks as Miranda, Zooey Deschanel as Natalie, Emily Mortimer as Liz, and Shirley Knight as Mother Ilene Rochlin. Worthy thespian support to "Our Idiot Brother" also came from Adam Scott as Miranda's cynical neighbor Jeremy, Rashida Jones as Natalie's lesbian lover Cindy, Steve Coogan as Liz's adulterous husband Dylan, Kathryn Hahn as Ned's symbiotic farmer ex-girlfriend Janet, and finally T.J. Miller as Janet's current mentally-challenged beau Billy. Maybe it's the idiot in me, but by far this was the best comedy ensemble I have seen in a long time in a motion picture. So my brothers and sisters from all over the movie world, I think it would be a smart movie move to take a look at "Our Idiot Brother".

***** Excellent.