BY MIKEY MIGO
When I first saw the trailer for Our Idiot Brother I was sold. I’m a huge Paul Rudd fan as it is, but in a somewhat “Lebowski” looking role? That’s awesome. The trailer had a joke about weed and showed off that his sisters in the movie were Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks, and Zooey Dechanel. The problem is that t he movie came and went too quickly for me to notice it enough to go see it in the theatres. I forgot about it until coming across it again recently. This is my kind of movie. Netflix labels movies like this as “cerebral” and it’s easy to understand why. It’s not just a normal movie. The dialogue is smarter, snappier, and more in depth than a typical movie. Movies like this used to be reserved for pure “independent” types, but Hollywood caught on and came in and raped and pillaged Sundance like it was nothing. I don’t hate that bigger names and bigger budgets are doing what indies used to be known for, but I never felt cool with labeling some 30 million dollar movie starring an A-list Oscar winner type as an “independent”. Netflix has it right. These movies are “cerebral”. Deal. And really, this mini soap-box rant isn’t even that necessary. Our Idiot Brother was made for like 5 million bucks. That kind of shit doesn’t really matter though. What does is that this was a really good movie. In 2011, I’ve not seen a whole lot of movies that I enjoyed as much as this one. The movie centers around a stoner free spirit neo-hippie dude played by Paul Rudd. He gets busted on some shit weed dealing bust, gets out of jail and tries to get back on his feet. His crazy hippie commune girlfriend, Kathryn Hahn, has moved on with her new boyfriend, TJ Miller. So he goes home to his family. He has a loving mom and three sisters, a over protective Emily Mortimer who is married to a extra fun douchy Steve Coogan, Elizabeth Banks who is in a weird place with the underappreciated Adam Scott, and Zooey Dechanel who is partnered with a very “butch” Rashida Jones. Each sister has their own thing going on and their own worlds. Rudd comes into each of their lives and with good intentions sends their lives upside down. Each of their side stories is pretty interesting and entertaining. I’d almost want to watch a movie from any of their perspectives, it’s that strong. Jesse Peretz kicks ass in the direction department as well. The cast is pretty stacked. I’m a fan of pretty much everyone that appear on the screen during this movie so I’m a little bias. There wasn’t a point at all in this movie where I didn’t enjoy myself and want a scene to end. This was one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2011. It didn’t have to have a big gimmick or anything too over the top. It relied on story, charm, and heart. Definitely, I recommend. A
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