Our Idiot Brother (Jesse Peretz, 2011): After being released from prison for drug trafficking, an eternally-optimistic pseudo-hippy Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) couch-surfs between his mom and his three sisters, managing to disrupt plans and unearth tensions wherever he goes. Sounds like a recipe for side-splitting comedy in the vein of
Step Brothers, no?
Our Idiot Brother is indeed very funny, but also navigates territories both moving and serious. The movie is somewhat Woody Allen-esque in its sketching of every character's strengths and weaknesses, personal complications and dark sides, such that it's not always clear-cut that Ned is having a negative effect on their lives. Of course, in this type of movie everyone always learns a lesson by the end, but had it been an Adam Sandler flick Ned would've been an insensitive moron throughout who just happens to do good. Instead, he's got a strongly developed moral compass that, while it doesn't always point in the right direction, usually takes him to the best choice. Ned's not really an idiot, so much as he forsakes societal trappings for the sake of happiness. The sisters - played by Zooey Deschanel, Samantha Morton, and Elizabeth Banks - are each fascinating, and could have carried a movie of their own, which makes Our Idiot Brother all the richer.
While, at the end of the day, it's still a straightforward comedy that won't challenge the brain too much, Our Idiot Brother has a lot more meat on its bones than expected and is well worth checking out.
