Waste of time

Such a frustrating disappointment

one of my absolute favorites!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Our idiot brother is only one and half hours of comedy-drama video which sets bar high for comedy movies. It is highly underrated.Tone, Script & Story: It is a movie about Ned and his three sisters and their lives. The character of Ned weaves its own plot with each of his sisters which comes together. There is so much to say which occurs in one and half hours that cannot be summarized. There's plot coming together and stating Ned as just a child. There's how Ned's fed up and decides to stay in jail asking his sisters to f*** off. The story is awesome (4/5).Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: Direction, Screenplay and Cinematography are all very good (4/5).Music: Music is very good (4/5).Acting: Everybody associated with the movie has shown exceptional skills in acting (4/5).Final Verdict: It is worth adding to your DVD collection [(4/5) (9/10)].

I laughed a few times (one good belly laugh) mostly at the hippy lingo and situations: candle-making conversation, a pacifist trying not to get angry, etc. The movie also had some sweet moments. Paul Rudd is an awesome leading man who has stayed mostly under the radar despite having a packed resume. His small role in Knocked Up (the scene where he and Seth Rogan's character go to Las Vegas) lifts that movie to another level; and the film Two Days is quietly stunning.All that said, this particular movie, Our Idiot Brother, doesn't quite reach either of those movies' heights, dramatically or comedically. It's kinda disjointed, for one thing. Lots of story lines and sisters to keep track of, and a bit too much weight placed on the dog's role. Oh well, it's not the worst movie ever. Try it, you might like it.

'Our Idiot Brother' reminds me of two other films involving a passive interloper who affects the lives of a group of siblings. They are the Spanish Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film of 1994, 'Belle Epoque' and the 2001 Irish/English import, 'About Adam'. In both, a young Lothario is the catalyst for awakening the sexual impulses of various family members (in Belle Epoque, it's three sisters and in About Adam, it's three sisters and a brother).'Our Idiot Brother' is a variation on this theme. Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) is by no means a Lothario, but is definitely a passive interloper who acts as a catalyst, eventually transforming the lives of his three sisters, for the good. Ned, a latter day hippie, hardly represents the spirit of Bacchus (as in the other two films), but rather a type who inspires spontaneity. The best part of 'Our idiot Brother' is Paul Rudd, who plays the likable Ned and one finds him charming and offbeat (except maybe for moments when he acts like a complete fool, allowing himself to be conned by uniformed a police officer, who convinces naïve Ned to sell him some marijuana at a local market).Unfortunately, the women Ned plays off against throughout the film simply lack the charm of the film's protagonist. For starters, there's his girlfriend, Janet, who was living on a biodynamic farm at the time Ned is arrested, and when he returns, promptly shows him the door, having shacked up with another hippie type, who is just as goofy as Ned. What's worse is that Janet covets Ned's dog (whose name is 'Willie Nelson'). It's hard to like a humorless character like Janet, whose main characteristic is to be a foil to Ned, in her unrelenting pursuit of good old 'Willie'. Ned's sisters are no more likable than Ned's ex. Take for example, Liz (Emily Mortimer) who's married to Dylan, a pretty much repulsive documentary filmmaker, who Ned unwittingly exposes as a cheating philanderer. Before things break down between Liz and Dylan, Liz has trouble accepting Ned's exhortation that they treat her son River like a normal kid (the parents can't stomach Ned's promotion of 'violent' activities, such as martial arts instead of more 'cultured activities' like ballet dancing). Then there's another unpleasant sister, Miranda, a journalist, who uses Ned to obtain a gossipy personal story from a royal celebrity, who takes Ned under her wings, after she's drawn to his honesty. Ned won't betray the celebrity's confidence, and surly Miranda boots Ned out of her apartment. More unpleasantness: Cindy, the lesbian girlfriend of Ned's other sister, Natalie, who should be the most ethical of all the characters, since she's an attorney, concocts this sad plan to go with Ned, and steal his dog back from his ex-girlfriend. It gets even more unfunny, when Ned blurts out that Natalie has been having an affair with a man, much to the chagrin of Cindy, who had no idea that Natalie was bisexual.The 'dark moment' of the second Act (if there is a dark moment) is when Ned admits that he's been smoking marijuana again, to his parole officer, who's forced to arrest him. Ned doesn't want to be bailed out of jail until the sisters are able to find a way to procure Ned's beloved 'Willie Nelson', which they do, when Ned's ex-girlfriend's boyfriend, decides that giving Ned the dog, is the 'right thing to do'.Ned's good-naturedness finally pays off when Liz decides to start dating again, Miranda begins a relationship with a neighbor she was really meant for and Cindy supports Natalie, as she decides to have her baby. As for Ned, he starts a candle shop with his ex-wife's boyfriend and then meets a woman, who he instantly falls for (note that the woman's dog is named 'Dolly Parton'). Our Idiot Brother's denouement unfortunately is unearned. That's because we ultimately don't find the sisters' positive transformations engaging due to not feeling invested in them earlier. Instead, the film's scenarists needed to make them more nuanced, and certainly more sympathetic, despite their shortcomings. In that way, Ned's affability and trustworthiness, would not have gone for naught.

I've never seen a "comedy" that was more of a yawn. The reviews called it "gentle" and "charming." I found it "boring" and "dreadful." The story is basic, Paul Rudd's character is an optimistic dweeb who can't read people and generally thinks that everyone is his friend. The pseudo-hippie gets busted for selling drugs to a cop in the first ten minutes, and then once released from jail spends an indefinite number of painful moments making his sisters miserable. (And painful is a great word...watching this movie was akin to having a root canal with minimal anesthetic.None of the characters are in the least bit believable, and their interactions are pathetic considering the talent. The film is reminiscent of a poorly rehearsed high school play where the pauses are awkward and the dialogue flatly delivered. None are believable. Perhaps the strangest of all was Steve Coogan who looked decidedly like a young Tiny Tim in his long hair.