Our Idiot Brother (2011) – Review

Review: Our Idiot Brother is funny, but plays much more like a character piece and a drama than what the marketing would suggest. The film does not work at all if you go into it expecting an R-rated comedy (similar to the work Paul Rudd has done with Judd Apatow), because that is not the type of film it is at all. Rather, it is a light drama (that is also funny at times) centered on Ned and his three sisters and how he kind of exists on a different wavelength and interrupts their lives when he falls on hard times and needs their help. Director Jesse Peretz does a terrible job with the tone and structure of the film, ultimately ruining the good performances from the great cast. The film is clearly not a straightforward comedy, but Peretz tries to make it work as if it were with his tone – and thus many of the conversations seem as if they are supposed to be funny but are not (I am not sure they were really intended to play that way in the script). The tone is very lighthearted and happy-go-lucky (much like the character Ned), creating a world in which nothing bad can possible happen, yet the story is about the struggles that each character has with their relationships (and the contrast of Ned in the real world would have been more compelling). The tone does not fit the material at all. Peretz also has no cohesive story structure. The film is about Ned trying to get money so he can move back to his old home so he can be closer to his dog, but it is more about the relationship he has with his sisters and their relationships with their significant others. As is, the story just sort of meanders around clumsily touching on story elements, but nothing really feels important or engaging, because the structure is not defined (and really the narrative is not defined; it is just sort of vague), and thus the resolution is fairly meaningless. All that said the film still manages to be somewhat enjoyable purely from a performance and character standpoint, as many of the actors (especially Rudd) do very good work. While Our Idiot Brother is a failure of narrative filmmaking, the actors still make it a little funny and dramatically engaging (somehow). By the end, the audience actually cares about Ned (and that is solely due to the work of Rudd and the other actors).

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Jesse Peretz can add yet another horribly directed film to his resume (and honestly, I have nothing against him, but I just hate to see talented actors wasted by poor filmmakers). The original songs and score by Eric D. Johnson and Nathan Larson are fairly good and fit the film well. The found music is also good (here is an example). Yaron Orbach’s cinematography has a straightforward indie style to it, which also fits the picture, but Inbal Weinberg’s production design is probably the most interesting technical/aesthetic work in the film, as he contrasts each character against the others with their unique living spaces. The cast is wonderful in the film, and are really the only reason it is not terrible. Rashida Jones and Adam Scott shine among the smaller supporting roles, while the three sisters Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and especially Emily Mortimer bring a lot to their characters (when really the script does not give them too much, but the actresses do a great job fleshing them out). Paul Rudd continues to show that he is not just a funny guy, but a fantastic dramatic actor. He completely goes for the character of Ned, and is lovable, heartfelt and sincere (when many actors would not have been able to pull it off, or made a joke of him).

Summary & score: The brilliant cast saves the film from sheer awfulness (and for many viewers, they probably do not), but I also think Our Idiot Brother works a lot better if you go into it thinking it will be a character piece, as that is what it is meant to be. 6/10

Shutter Island (2010) – Review

Shutter Island is creepy, well made and interesting – a film that interacts with its audience, building not only tension but also engaging the viewer to participate in the detective aspect of the film. The main theme of the film is redemption set against the early Cold War paranoia. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Teddy Daniels above all else seeks atonement for the tragedies of his past, which all come crashing to a head as he investigates the disappearance of a patient on Shutter Island’s facility for the criminally insane. As the Teddy and the viewer decipher clues, listen to the interviews and get wrapped up in the case, director Martin Scorsese forces in flashback and haunting imagery to signal that all is not what it seems, with the character, the case and the film. The avid viewer will enjoy participating in unraveling the case, clue by clue, as the payoff is evident amongst the facts before it is revealed. The thematic elements of the main character trying to find redemption and attempting to fit into society, in whatever form that exists around him, are common in Scorsese’s work and it is interesting to see the different ways that he comes at them. Here, Scorsese seems to be most interested in how tragedy affects people, the different ways that they cope. Do they retreat or push forward? Teddy digs deeper into his work, and so the film works best as an interactive detective narrative with these thematic elements influencing the character and his perspective. Another interesting aspect to the film is that only Teddy Daniels seems to be a fully fleshed out character – in other words, Teddy seems real, while everyone else is a caricature playing a role (minus one other character), which normally would seem like a negative, but here it works quite well in the narrative that Scorsese has laid out. The imagery that Scorsese uses is impactful and meaningful, both emotionally and in terms of solving the case. A number of the scenes visually were masterfully impressive, poetic and with wonderful composition (my favorite is the flashback scene in which DiCaprio is staring down at the German officer bleeding to death while paper floats in the air behind and around him, sort of beautiful and intensely sad). Scorsese’s visualization of Teddy’s nightmares is astonishing, visually stunning yet emotionally tragic. The music used in the film at first seemed to be strangely over the top and forced given the genre, but as the film plays out, this makes sense and like many other aspects works well in the structure. The music does add to the tension that the film builds throughout in addition to the story elements and situations that have implicit anxiety attached (some in the theatre could not handle it screaming out at parts). The film is very well acted by DiCaprio and there is strong supporting work by Michelle Williams. Ben Kingsley gives a slightly offbeat performance which seems very odd at times, yet like everything else, works here. Emily Mortimer is also good and really creepy. The shooting style of Robert Richardson mixed with the editing of Thelma Schoonmaker along with Scorsese’s input created an interesting visual style to the film. At times, the camera would pan, yet it looked like a projector moving to the next slide, as if the divulgence of visual information was rehearsed to be presented. Also, there are shots of perspective that seem off when the location is visited again. Things seem off throughout, but again it works. All in all, the film is a very good detective film with psychologically-thriller elements built in to the narrative structure with fantastic imagery creating an interestingly made film – another fine one from Scorsese. 8/10

Movie of the Week - Match Point

This week’s movie is Match Point (2005).

Directed by Woody Allen, the film is about a former tennis pro who marries into a rich family, but falls for a femme-fatal who is dating his brother-in-law. The film features an excellent cast including: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, Emily Mortimer, Scarlett Johansson and small performances by Ewen Bremner and James Nesbitt. The film is also the first of Allen’s Scarlett Johansson trilogy, who he claims was his muse, all of which are set in Europe as opposed to New York (the other two are Scoop and Vicky Cristina Barcelona). But what makes the movie great is the tension Allen is able to build. He is able to create a compelling thriller in which the viewer feels the pressure as if they are the main character themselves. It is also one of Allen’s better visual films to go along with his classic dialogue. All in all, Match Point is clever and engrossing – a must for fans of Allen and thrillers. Check out the trailer.

Match Point [Blu-ray/DVD]