Our Idiot Brother | Review
‘Our Idiot Brother’ is a fairly simple film whose protagonist is a simply all-around nice guy. The protagonist is Ned, played charmingly by Paul Rudd (‘I Love You, Man’). Ned is the type of guy who doesn’t lie, who doesn’t steal, and who sees the good in everyone. Basically, Ned’s an extreme optimist, which is great, but it causes quite a lot of trouble for the people closest to him, especially his three sisters.
Ned’s three sisters are portrayed by some of my favorite actresses, which is a plus. Elizabeth Banks (‘Definitely, Maybe’), Zooey Deschanel (‘(500) Days of Summer’), and Emily Mortimer (‘Cars 2‘ & ‘The Pink Panther’) are Miranda, Natalie, and Liz, respectively. Unlike the nice and optimistic Ned, his sisters are more grounded in reality. Miranda is a workaholic journalist for Vanity Fair magazine, Miranda is a sexually promiscuous bisexual in a serious relationship with Cindy (Rashida Jones from ‘The Social Network‘ and ‘I Love You, Man’), and Liz is a stay-at-home mom to her slime-ball of a husband, Dylan (Steve Coogan from ‘Hamlet 2’).
At the start of the film Ned gets sent to jail for selling weed to a uniformed police officer. That’s right, a uniformed officer, not an undercover one. It’s not because Ned’s an idiot, rather it’s because Ned is too nice of a guy and too willing to help those in need that he gives into the cop’s pleas for something to relieve his stress. When Ned is released from prison early for good behavior (of course), he loses his home and pet dog, Willie Nelson, to his ex-girlfriend. Seeking some help from his family, Ned lives with each member of his family, one by one. And from one family member to another, Ned stirs up trouble.
‘Our Idiot Brother’ is fairly straight-forward throughout its entirety. The conflicts that arise in each of Ned’s sisters’ lives are understandable, and both sides of each is reasonable. We understand that Ned is only trying to help his sisters, and we understand why his sisters have the right to be mad at Ned. However, we tend to stay on Ned’s side because he’s just too innocent and nice not to be.
There comes a point in the film where Ned has a breaking point. It’s a very interesting diversion from his usual jolly, carefree persona, which is what makes this breaking point so important. However, this issue is solved all too easily at the end of the film that it’s a little bothersome. The same goes for happy endings for Ned’s sisters. All of the conflicts and issues raised in the film are forgiven too drastically and unrealistically, and the problems are never explored for long, which squanders any dramatic or emotional depth the film may have. However, ‘Our Idiot Brother’ thrives too much on charm and fun for me to dislike it.
Like Ned, ‘Our Idiot Brother’ is nice and joyful. The film features a cast of highly likable actors, including a previously unmentioned Adam Scott (‘Step Brothers’), and perfect casting of Paul Rudd as Ned. ‘Our Idiot Brother’ is a purely feel-good film, and that’s what it does best.