At its heart, “Our Idiot Brother” is a morality play – an exploration of honesty. Paul Rudd’s title character, Ned, personifies this virtue at its most extreme. His siblings, however, are willing to forgo honesty in different ways and with varying intensity. They justify their dishonesty by invoking certain goals – respectively familial peace, career ambition and preservation of love. This tension between Ned’s thoroughgoing simplicity and the moral complexity of those around him provide both the laughs and the drama throughout the film.
This is an earnest, simply shot film, much to its credit. The film’s various locales, from the farmlands of upstate New York to the lush offices and beer-soaked hipster dens of New York City, have just the right blend of detailed realism and hyperbole. The camerawork is static and unobtrusive, leaving the emphasis on the richly drawn characters and their environs. The denim ruggedness of the farm, the wealth of downtown Manhattan and the aesthetic boldness of the painfully fashionable 20-somethings and their haunts are each crafted fairly and humorously, with their own particular seed of hypocrisy. The funniest moments of the film are set at the organic farm (which could have easily been set in the Pioneer Valley), where Ned’s smarmy, hippy ex (Kathryn Hahn) conspires to make him miserable, with no help from her dimwitted but goodhearted new boyfriend (T.J. Miller).
The casting is, without a doubt, the strongest point of the film. Although not a Judd Apatow production, it has the finely-tuned casting and plausible backstory of the Apatow school, not to mention several actors and actresses associated with the renowned director/producer. Paul Rudd’s considerable charm and likability carry the movie through some potentially tedious moments. Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer and Zooey Deschanel are perfect as the three sisters focused on career, family, and love, respectively. Deschanel in particular is downright enchanting as the spacey, sexually liberated youngest of the siblings. Her understated demeanor and the enormity of the problems her character faces makes every second of her screen time magnetic. The only questionable casting choice is Rashida Jones, that adorable love interest from “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” as Deschanel’s girlfriend. She’s too earnest to make a plausible hipster, so she ends up coming off as ridiculous in her oversized spectacles and handsomely boyish clothing.
Rudd’s believability as the impossibly good-hearted Ned makes the whole premise of the film work. The film’s message evokes a maxim by the venerable philosopher, William James: “Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true.” Ned’s unwavering honesty forces his siblings to confront the falsehoods they’ve constructed, knowingly or otherwise. With considerable difficulty they each reevaluate their lives, ultimately realizing the tremendous gift Ned has given them: a more open and simple relationship with themselves and others.
“Our Idiot Brother” is predictable, but enjoyably so. This is the type of movie that will no doubt be poo-poo’d by elite cinephiles for its simplicity of execution, but it should nevertheless be heartily recommended to fans of Rudd and others as a warmhearted comedy/drama with a light touch. It provides a pleasantly bittersweet end to summer and a message that strikes home –
in the realm of love, simplicity is golden.
Gavin Beeker can be reached at [email protected]
