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MguyXXV 
"X marks the spot"
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 Posted - 06/21/2010 : 07:56:20
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John C. Reilly has the Midas touch: I like him in everything. And I like him in this only slightly quirky love story. Mildly oddball John (Reilly) meets and falls in love with Molly (Marisa Tomei), soon to find out that she has an adult son -- Cyrus (Jonah Hill) -- who adds a layer of complication to the courtship.
Tomei gives a touching and down-to-earth perormance that resonates. Reilly reciprocates. Then Hill comes in with an oddly two-dimensional performance that somehow works in the context of the story.
What makes this film enjoyable, however, is restraint. Where it could have devolved into a "War of the Roses" or "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" type conflict (and don't get me wrong: those films were fine for what they were), it simply doesn't. It dips a big toe into the waters of epic conflict, and gently decides not to do the cannonball that the setup may lead one to expect. It could have been slapstick funny, but it steers clear of "Step Brothers" (which I liked, in a silly way). But the camera style is annoying.
In the end, I appreciated this film like the several seconds after sipping a nice wine with a crisp and delicate taste; it lingers a little, but it highlights the fact that its enjoyment is immediately temporal. Whatever that means. |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 06/22/2010 : 12:48:50
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My take from Sundance:
CYRUS**** The Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, made BAGHEAD and some other interesting indies, but they were way off my radar scope. With this film, I officially take notice: they�re my new Coens, and as with Joel and Ethan, I�ll gladly see whatever they choose to shoot from now on. This is a lovable-loser romantic comedy, but with a barrel of Tabasco. The third character is Marisa Tomei�s 21-year-old son (Jonah Hill), who not only gets in the way of John C. Reilly�s ardor, he could even be certifiably psychotic � and all this emerges from Hill�s hilarious/frightening thousand-yard stare. Hill steals every scene that isn�t battened down, but before he even gets going, there�s half an hour of typical grossout comedy. The Duplasses are not afraid to take dangerous right angles, and by the end, it isn�t even a comedy any more. This one�s not for everybody, but it sure was for me. P.S. Ridley and Tony Scott exec-produced.
My entire Sundance 2010 report
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MguyXXV
"X marks the spot"
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Posted - 06/23/2010 : 08:03:03
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quote:
Originally posted by randall
My take from Sundance:
CYRUS**** The Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, made BAGHEAD and some other interesting indies, but they were way off my radar scope. With this film, I officially take notice: they�re my new Coens, and as with Joel and Ethan, I�ll gladly see whatever they choose to shoot from now on. This is a lovable-loser romantic comedy, but with a barrel of Tabasco. The third character is Marisa Tomei�s 21-year-old son (Jonah Hill), who not only gets in the way of John C. Reilly�s ardor, he could even be certifiably psychotic � and all this emerges from Hill�s hilarious/frightening thousand-yard stare. Hill steals every scene that isn�t battened down, but before he even gets going, there�s half an hour of typical grossout comedy. The Duplasses are not afraid to take dangerous right angles, and by the end, it isn�t even a comedy any more. This one�s not for everybody, but it sure was for me. P.S. Ridley and Tony Scott exec-produced.
My entire Sundance 2010 report
Um ... yeah, that's what I meant!  |
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damalc 
"last watched: Sausage Party"
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Posted - 07/16/2010 : 00:16:54
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not bad, but i was underwhelmed.
i kept expecting for it to decide what kind of film it wanted to be.
it was funny, but not enough to be a comedy. creepy, but not enough to be a thriller. serious, but not enough to be a drama.
it would have worked for me as a straight-up comedy, but as a serious film, Cyrus' behavior was unbelievable for a 22-year-old. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 11/20/2010 : 19:34:24
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Cyrus
quote:
Originally posted by dama11c
Cyrus' behavior was unbelievable for a 22-year-old.
I assumed to start with that he was supposed to have an austistic spectrum disorder (or at least a personality disorder of some kind), but then he suddenly gains total empathy and remorse. The film is much better up to that point.
4/5 |
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Sludge 
"Charlie Don't Serf!"
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Posted - 01/24/2011 : 17:06:27
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Just watched this. I came to this thread thinking like damalc. I think comedy is also an expectation just going with the tagline and the knowing Hill is portraying the son. The long lingering eye contact shots have me wondering if Hill is trying to do what Adam Sandler was aiming for in Punch Drunk Love. But as mentioned in all of these reviews, the work never goes for real destruction either.
One nice bit of storytelling is in the unfolding the history between Reilly and his ex wife Catherine Keener, whose performance along with that of her not so new man (Matt Walsh, I'm believe) is well worth mentioning.
The script presents a real challenge for the actors in that it would be easy to play these lines either dumbed down or over-the-top, and to their credit none of the performers appear to do this.
That said, MguyX, I think your synopsis also stands up perfectly. Watching this should have been accompanied by the half bottle of 2-buck Chuck opened the night before.
I would definitely like to see what's next for the brothers Duplass.
Finally, if you haven't thrown "Mollycoddled" a vote, go do it! |
Edited by - Sludge on 01/24/2011 17:08:57 |
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rabid kazook 
"Pushing the antelope"
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Posted - 02/14/2011 : 22:34:17
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quote:
Originally posted by damalc
i kept expecting for it to decide what kind of film it wanted to be.
it was funny, but not enough to be a comedy. creepy, but not enough to be a thriller. serious, but not enough to be a drama.
The brothers are just big goofballs, even Baghead is essentially just really lightly comical. Creepy vibes are just comedic punches and it's not supposed to be representative of realistic relationships. The only way I suppose to go with it is to have fun with the overturning of the every cliche of relationship comedy in the book.
It's a movie just my alley - little smart "indieish" movie (not as "indiesh" as say Puffy Chair though which I love too).
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Cyrus (2010)
