Sundance Review: ‘My Idiot Brother’

It’s always great to discover a new comedy that everyone will be talking about months from now. ‘My Idiot Brother’ is that movie. Apatow-ian in its construction and characters, ‘My Idiot Brother’ is hilarious, heartfelt, and simply fantastic.

My Idiot Brother

Directed by Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Rashida Jones

Ned (Paul Rudd) is just a good guy. He always gives people the benefit of the doubt. He looks for the good in people, and that’s his biggest flaw. People prey on his goodness like hyenas devouring a rotting carcass. The worst of these predators are his three pessimistic sisters.

Ned is arrested for selling pot to a uniformed police officer. Genuinely thinking that the police officer needed the pot to relax, Ned generously offered it to him, taking him at his word. Big mistake. After a spell in the local prison, Ned is finally out, but has nowhere to go.

He ping pongs through his sisters, as they each unload their problems on him. He tries his best to help them out, but somehow his goodness keeps digging him deeper and deeper. The sisters find that it’s easy to blame Ned for all their troubles, because he’s so nice that he’ll just take the criticism without a fight.

I absolutely loved this movie. It’s one of the best at the festival. It’s sure to be an instant R-rated comedy classic. Paul Rudd is still heart-warming and delightful even when he’s sporting a scraggly Charles Manson beard. This is a great cast, and it’s simply a movie about a guy trying his hardest to be a good person.

I loved it.

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