Our Idiot Brother (2011) Review

The title of this movie is misleading. One would expect a raunchy film about an infantile slob who goes to live with his family and wreaks havoc on them with his stupidity. In reality it is a rather bittersweet film about a laid back kind-hearted man named Ned (Paul Rudd) who, after selling marijuana to a uniformed police officer, lands in jail. He is released early eight months later (named model prisoner four months in a row) and due to his pacifist girlfriend kicking him out has to go live with his sisters. Each of the sisters has a problem that they tell Ned about expecting him to keep it a secret. Liz (Emily Mortimer) is a highly conservative mom married to a weasel of a filmmaker (Steve Coogan); Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is an ambitious writer who hopes to work for Vanity Fair magazine, and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) may be a lesbian but isn't sure if she wants to move in with another woman. I won't go into what each of the sisters respective problems are suffice it to say that the majority of them are their own doing. Ned tells all the wrong people but that's not for malicious reasons. It's because he simply assumed that everyone knew what was going on. One by one the sisters start to hate Ned because he is "ruining their lives".

One of the things that I liked most about the film was how nice it was to watch. Ned is almost a saint and is so friendly to everyone he meets. He has an almost constant smile and nearly never loses his temper. There is only one scene where he does and it is quite a well-done scene and completely justified. It was refreshing to see a character that isn't cynical or paranoid that people will betray him. He is an idiot in the sense that he is wholly honest and trusting. Why did he sell that officer the weed? Because the cop told him he had a bad week. Ned didn't even want to accept money for it.

Due to his roles in other films like Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin I expected to be annoyed with Paul Rudd's performance and instead was pleasantly surprised at the great range he exudes in the film. He truly did a good job here and I wish that I could be like Ned.

Perhaps the film is not worth the rating I'm giving it but since it is a nugget of nimble wit and intelligent humor in an era of unfunny gag comedies I am regarding it rather highly.

★★★★