Full Review: Our Idiot Brother

Grade: A+

Ned is a bit of a free spirit who grows vegetables on an organic farm and sells them at a market. But when he sells marijuana to a uniformed police officer, he is sent to jail. After his release, his ex-girlfriend at the farm doesn’t want him back so Ned is forced to stay with some of his family. He essentially gets passed around the homes of his three sisters. Ned has a lot faith in the good in people and he insists on be as honest as possible. This, however, does manage to cause some complications amongst his sisters as he forces them to deal with each of their own problems.

Our Idiot Brother is yet another instance of bad advertising and a trailer that doesn’t properly portray the movie. When I watched the trailer I thought it was going to be a raunchy/stoner/slapstick comedy and I was glad that it wasn’t. The movie is my absolute favorite kind of comedy: subtle and underplayed. This movie had me laughing the whole time without getting raunchy or gross, without the characters falling down or getting hit by stuff, without much exaggeration and without a lot of the other things that most comedies these days tend to overdo. The writing was great and all of the characters were fascinating in their own way, especially Ned. This movie completely took me by surprise and is easily my favorite comedy of the year, thus far. I honestly don’t know how else to describe it but I loved absolutely every second of this movie.

Paul Rudd (Dinner for Schmucks, Role Models) plays the lead role of Ned. I am a huge fan of Rudd’s, he is one of the most consistently funny actors out there today. He is so good that even though I really don’t like the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I love his character in it and that almost makes it worth watching. With that said, I have to state that this is now my favorite role I have ever seen him in. Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) plays the role of Miranda. Banks is great and one of my favorite comedic actors and she does not disappoint in this movie. Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer, Yes Man) plays the role of Natalie. I can never get enough of Ms. Deschanel and she was great and extremely en in this movie. Emily Mortimer (City Island, Harry Brown) plays the role of Liz. Mortimer was great in this movie and this is one of her better roles I’ve seen her do. The movie also features Steve Coogan, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, T.J. Miller, Kathryn Hahn and many more.

Our Idiot Brother is my favorite comedy of the year and is one of the better comedies to come out in a while, it feels like. I cannot recommend this movie enough. If you are looking for a feel good movie or a great comedy, get out there and see Our Idiot Brother. I can’t wait to see this movie again, I really loved it, I know I’ve said that a few times.