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4

BobbyGSep 21, 2011

Typical precious indie comedy, way too pleased with itself to make it worth watching. It's one of those films the critics love to love, but audiences don't really enjoy.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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6

MarcDoyleAug 27, 2011

It's a fun movie with plenty of laughs - Rudd doesn't cross the line into annoying. He's a good foil from which to call his sisters' faults into focus, and they are all terrific. Coogan is hilarious as the jerk husband. And Ned'sIt's a fun movie with plenty of laughs - Rudd doesn't cross the line into annoying. He's a good foil from which to call his sisters' faults into focus, and they are all terrific. Coogan is hilarious as the jerk husband. And Ned's ex-girlfriend and her BF are awesome. So go in with modest expectations and you'll enjoy this.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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8

lMitchiepooSep 5, 2011

Just a fantastic Paul Rudd movie. His overall character was a great idea and the movie flowed very well with its subtle humor. It kept me laughing all the way through, just don't expect a "laugh-out-loud" movie but its still a must-see.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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6

BikerjamesAug 29, 2011

As a rule of thumb, I like quirky movies. The ones that work best are over the top quirky (a la Little Miss Sunshine). I wish this movie would have taken it one step further into quirkiness. It was a little too serious at times with longAs a rule of thumb, I like quirky movies. The ones that work best are over the top quirky (a la Little Miss Sunshine). I wish this movie would have taken it one step further into quirkiness. It was a little too serious at times with long stretches of no humor, but still held my interest. I thought the best part of the movie were the scenes with Billy, played by T. J. Miller. He played the over the top stereotypical hippie to perfection. I wish the other characters were as over the top as he was and were as memorable. I did like Paul Rudd in his role and overall the movie works, but could have been better.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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10

ShiiraOct 2, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Elizabeth and her sisters think that Ned is an idiot. Only their half-employed hippie brother, a biodynamic farmer, would sell marijuana to a policeman. Worse yet, this bust was no undercover sting in which a plain clothes cop posed as some chronic in order to entrap the unsuspecting seller. Uniformed and on-duty, Ned could plainly see it was a cop, and yet he still made the unwise transaction, in broad daylight, no less, with a little rhubarb on the side for appearance's sake. The Rochlin girls don't suffer fools gladly, so the moviegoer can imagine Ned's sisters regaling themselves with the same story, while their brother grew a Jesus beard during his eight-month sentence in prison. But you had to be there, and you have to know the son of God, whose job it was to heal the sick, so Ned, Jesus incarnate, seeing that the law officer needed Mary Jane for his weary soul, offered the man her services, then pays the price. Ned is a christ figure. While crashing with Liz, in his capacity as the cool uncle, he introduces Inspector Clouseau, the idiot detective, to her sheltered boy River by showing him "The Pink Panther". The Peter Sellers film establishes a subtext, but it's not the bumbling Frenchman's genetic code that courses through Ned's blood, since slapstick, with the exception of the familial freeloader slamming the door on his nephew's fingers, is not the comedy tradition at work here; it's satire, of the deadpan variety, as Paul Rudd channels the mentally retarded gardener from "Being There", where at the end of the 1979 classic, Chauncey Gardiner walks on water, like Jesus. This miracle explains why the man who raised Chauncey never allowed him to leave the premises. Maybe the government would lock his boy up; a government that would resist ceding their power back to the church, transforming the country back into a theocracy. In the seventies, there was still such a thing as separation from church and state. Apparently, Ashby saw the future. "I like to watch," Chauncey says, who spends his whole life in front of a T.V., just as earth must be one big program to god, a couch potato himself, in the sense that all he does is observe the human struggle with the same indifference as the idiot gardener. Whereas "Network" anticipated FOX news, "Being There", anticipated the rise of the evangelical president. The two films complete each other. In the final scene, after taking leave from his rich friend's funeral, Chauncey wanders through the woods, faintly recalling former President George W. Bush on his ranch. Back at the service, the gardener's name is bandied about among the pallbearers as a potential presidential candidate; pallbearers who seem to hold the real power. The aging men need Chauncey because they lack his charisma and don't look good on television. Ben, a conservative ideologue, perhaps, knew all along that Chauncey was an idiot, and knew he would make the perfect chief executive puppet for his people to pull the strings on, and be at their beck and call. Maybe Ned had the makings of a president, but like Harold(Sellers, again), in "I Love You Alice B. Toklas", some hippie chick(maybe it was that dognapper Janet) baked him some pot brownies and transformed him into a bohemian. Like Chauncey, whose ruminations on the garden turns the general public into idiots, misconstruing his every prosaic utterance as minimalist wisdom, Ned also has the talent of making imbeciles out of folks by simply being there. While all the Wall Street devils who were selling false dreams to a duped nation got off scot free, a cop sends an immaculate agriculturist to prison. Jesus Christ, indeed. Later, as a favor to his wife, the documentary filmmaker husband lets Ned assist him, and on one of Dylan's shoots, a ballet academy, he catches both the director and dancer in various states of undress. When he recounts the incident to Miranda, the middle sister can't beleive how her brother fell for the adulterer's story about his nakedness being part of an artistic process. But as a christ figure, Ned wouldn't consider nudity a sin. Genesis teaches us that Eve wasn't conscious of her exposed body until she took a bite from the serpent's apple, so Tatiana, with her ballerina's reputation for eating very little, would explain why Ned saw nothing wrong with the set-up. Metaphorically, the apple went untouched. Ned knows his commandments though, punishing Natalie for breaking number 7("You shall not commit adultery") when she cheats on Cindy, and then punishing Miranda for breaking number 9("You shall not steal"), after the Vanity Fair writer takes the words from a socialite to use in her article, which were only meant for Ned's ears. The idiot brother also creates miracles; he doesn't walk on water, but how can you explain a dog named Willie Nelson meeting another dog name Dolly Parton? That's more than mere happenstance; that's a divine act.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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3

MikefromAngusMar 24, 2012

so much potential to be funny! But the movie misses its mark. Plays out more like a drama then a comedy.
watch it, if there nothing else on! Dont expect big laughs or get drawning into the situation

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

csw12Mar 24, 2012

Our Idiot Brother has some minor funny moments but hey almost every film does. in a movie with some fine actors you would think it would be more interesting, sorry to say it didn't meet expectations.

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7

TVJerryAug 31, 2011

Paul Rudd is one of current cinema's most charming and affable personalities, so this role is perfect for him (his comic abilities are a bonus). He plays trusting guy whose unfailing honesty gets him and people around him into trouble. AfterPaul Rudd is one of current cinema's most charming and affable personalities, so this role is perfect for him (his comic abilities are a bonus). He plays trusting guy whose unfailing honesty gets him and people around him into trouble. After a stint in jail, he moves in with each of his three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Emily Morton, Zooey Deschanel), where he wrecks havoc on their lives and relationships. This good-natured comedy isn't hilarious or outrageous, but it's winning cast and genuine charms make it an appealing diversion.… Expand