Ned’s not really an idiot. Call him too trusting, call him socially inept, call him catastrophically naïve. He just has an unfortunate tendency to say and do things that assume everyone around him is as open with the world as he is. So when a uniformed cop looking to buy some weed assures Ned that he’s not trying to entrap him, he’s just had a really bad week, Ned (a hirsute Paul Rudd) takes it at face value. And ends up in prison.
Upon his release, his girlfriend on the organic farm where he used to live has moved on to a new guy. Worse than that, she refuses to give up their dog, Willie Nelson. Ned, homeless and dogless, begins making the rounds of extra bedrooms and couches at the homes of his mother and three sisters, where his inability to lie or even withhold any kind of sensitive information eventually makes him unwelcome with each of them.
Yes, Ned’s a quirky guy, and the film treads close to too-cutesy territory, as his sisters learn a tidy little lesson in the process of being closer to him than they probably have for years. But Our Idiot Brother mostly works, largely because perpetual supporting player Rudd steps into a spotlight role and gives Ned just the subtle complexity the movie needs. This is a character that would be simple to play with wide-eyed two-dimensional naïveté, but Rudd latches onto Ned’s humanity in a way that ensures our laughs are never mean or at his expense, and that we feel real empathy for him.
Similarly, Ned’s sisters rarely feel like flimsy archetypes, even though they’re set up that way: Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), the high-strung type-A journalist; Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), the Brooklyn-dwelling hipster lesbian; Liz (Emily Mortimer), the frustrated and frumpy housewife. But all the actors dig a little deeper, making the movie an R-rated comedy that doesn’t trade on crass moments or shock value, but is just an honest exploration of adult family dynamics.
As Ned is shuttled off to each of them, he learns of a secret in each of their lives, and inevitably is unable to keep it to himself. In other movies, this is where wackiness would ensue, but here the reactions are toned down to something more approximating reality. Director Jesse Peretz keeps the entire enterprise on a relatively laid back track that reflects the easy-going hippie affability of Ned. The movie meanders a little as a result, but never disagreeably.
There are scattered stumbles; an unexpected and potentially ruinous pregnancy for one character is dealt with without ever mentioning the word “abortion,” which feels more like the filmmakers backing down from anything potentially controversial than an honest character moment. The tacked-on epilogue is a little neater and more reassuring that it needs to be. But moments like these are the exception in a film that largely earns its laughs honestly. As a result, the scenes when the characters get serious actually resonate. All of which makes Out Idiot Brother a pretty smart, always pleasant film about a guy who’s not as dumb as he seems.
—
Our Idiot Brother
Directed by Jesse Peretz
Written by David Schisgall and Evgenia Peretz
Starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer
Running time: 90 minutes
Rated R for sexual content including nudity, and for language throughout.
Opens today at theaters across the area.
