"Our Idiot Brother" is enjoyable enough to watch, but its main weaknesses come by way of its own identity crisis. It doesn't really know what kind of movie it wants to be. As a comedy, it's funny enough. As a story, it feels like dozens of other movies I've seen before.
The main premise of the movie is a man-child finds himself in dire circumstances, and moves in with family who act like the grown-ups they are. This slacker is also so thoughtless that his bad habits get in the way of his family members tending to their responsibilities. Doesn't that follow the same story line as "You, Me, And Dupree" (2006)? Sure, in that movie, Owen Wilson's character was not related to Matt Dillon or Kate Hudson, but you know what I mean.
Plus, this movie also has a saga built in about three sisters. Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is a single workaholic who is moving up the corporate ladder as an entertainment journalist, Liz (Emily Mortimer) is a stay-at-home mom, and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) is a free spirit, a very amateur stand-up comedian, and a lesbian. One of these women is cheating on their significant other, and the other is the one being cheated on. Already, these archetypes reflect previous movies like "Hannah & Her Sisters" (1986), "Soul Food" (1997), and "Hanging Up" (2000) to name a few.
With those three aforementioned films, you really believed that the actresses in the movie were really sisters. In this film, not only do the three actresses look unrelated, but they don't really have any chemistry between them. When they sit together and talk about how messed up each sister thinks the lives of her other two sisters are, there's no poignancy in the scene at all. They talk at each other, not to each other. Most importantly, their frustration against their "Idiot Brother" Ned (Paul Rudd), after whom the film is named, doesn't feel right.
Which brings me to my next point: Is Ned an idiot, really? Well, he makes some unwise decisions, that's for sure. As the movie opens, we see Ned working at an organic foods stand presumably in upstate New York. He has long hair and a beard which make him look like Jesus, and you see from the beginning that his heart is at least in the right place.
While behind the counter, his first really stupid move is selling pot to an inquiring uniformed officer, and is arrested right on the spot. What's funny about this scene is that he first second guesses himself by saying to the policeman who asks for it, "Even if I knew where to get some, I wouldn't sell it to you."
So Ned gets sent to jail, is released, and his hippie girlfriend kicks him out of their house, but keeps his dog, cleverly named Willie Nelson. The only condition to his having a place to live is if he pays the required $500 a month to live in his ex-girlfriend's sheep stable. When returning to his mother's house for dinner, his sisters try to help by having him stay at Liz's house and work until he has enough money on which to live.
In the most contrived part of the film, Ned stays in his mother's house, then moves in with Liz and helps babysit her son River (Matthew Mindler). When you find out River's parents don't let him watch violent movies, and have him practice an obscure east-Indian flute, you know it's just a set-up for disaster. Emily Mortimer's character obviously knew her brother was in jail. What made her think having him watch her kid was a good idea? It's also a plot point seen before in films like "Uncle Buck" (1989), "Big Daddy" (1999), "Bedtime Stories" (2008), and countless others. Except for "Uncle Buck", none of these were great movies.
Paul Rudd's character is most definitely absent-minded, but "idiot" is too strong a word. He believes a lame excuse from one of his sister's significant others that he unsuspectingly catches cheating in the act, and he frequently reveals too much information. Is he an idiot? I still don't know. The title of this film alone is guilty of telling, not showing.
To Rudd's credit, he does have some laugh-out-loud lines he delivers with deadpan perfection. He also has the charisma and charm to carry a leading role like this one. This movie would be completely forgettable without him in the lead. There are also some surprisingly good supporting performances by the wonderful Rashida Jones, who plays Natalie's partner Cindy, and Adam Scott, whose face you would know if you saw him. Sterling K. Brown, who plays Ned's parole officer, and Janet Montgomery, as celebutante Lady Arabella, also deliver delightful, stand-out acting jobs despite their brief appearances.
No one really acted badly in this movie. The problem lay in the story, which seemed stitched together from other comedies I've seen before. Plus, the editing needed major work. When you're introduced to the sisters in the beginning, you don't get a good sense of what kind of characters they are, and you never do throughout the rest of the film. Plus, the matriarch of this family (Shirley Knight), is completely forgettable. During crucial, climactic moments in which she is present, she does and says absolutely nothing. Why even have a parent if you're not going to use them?
"Our Idiot Brother" is funny at times, but not great. Anytime a funny line or moment occurs, the rest of the film almost begs to be more original. Paul Rudd's Ned is most definitely a slacker, but unfortunately, the story feels like one also.
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