Review of Our Idiot Brother (2011) by Davidhowardking — 30 Aug 2011

I'd like to blame the aimlessness of this flick on the script but honestly there was plenty of acting that could have been done to save the movie..and it just wasn't. The interesting cast including Steve Coogan, Zoe Deshanel, Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones and Elizabeth Banks turn in uneven performances.

Banks and Jones deliver when they are allowed on screen but they aren't allowed to gel with other characters. Meanwhile Rudd--who is funny and charming in the flick--delivers a cartoonish performance that throws off the balance of the rest of the cast.

Steve Coogan, a fave of mine, is put to poor use as a dour, cheating husband. And Zoe Deshanel, who is given an extremely compelling character still thinks that opening her eyes wider is acting. She mumbles her way through the piece.

This performance is even worse than the one she delivered in all-time-terrible flick The Happening. *Cringe* How does she still get work? The director needed to decide here between cute and real and the decision was never made.

It is a trend in indie comedies that needs to die quickly. See--Cedar Rapids, Cyrus, Greenburg. All had a spark of something but could not pick a side. The funniest moment in the movie comes while the credits role.

Take that for what you will.