Movie Review - "Our Idiot Brother" (2011) **

     Paul Rudd is one of those weird actors for me. I'm going to guess I've seen in him in maybe 6 or 7 films and I can remember liking his characters for the most part but I don't think I have ever given any film he is in over 3 stars or so. Rudd has a charm about him that is endearing, it seems like he'd be a good buddy to hang out with, but for whatever reason, his movies just seem to fall a little short for me and Our Idiot Brother is no exception. In fact, it might be the poster child for what I'm talking about. I like Paul Rudd's character in this movie...the movie as a whole fell flat though. I'm not sure why that is and if I thought long enough about it I'm sure I could come up with other actors who fit this same criteria, but it really stood out for me while watching this.

     Rudd plays Ned Rochlin, a constantly upbeat organic farmer who is very likable but just seems to invite trouble with whatever he does. He means so well, and we feel like he has never hurt a soul in his life, but he is prone to doing or saying things which land him in hot water. As the movie opens, he has good intentions but ends up in jail when he sells a bag of marijuana to a uniformed cop. By reading that you may think he is a loser, a drug head, but once you see the scene you feel sorry for him, he just has that way about him. Upon his release from jail, he heads home only to find out that his girlfriend is now shacking up with another man and refuses to let Ned keep his dog, named Willie Nelson, in one of the best running jokes of the movie. The majority of the film sees Ned travel first to his mothers house and ultimately to the residences of each of his three sisters, played by Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks, and the oh so beautiful Zooey Deschanel. Each sister has their own unique relationship issue and as Ned moves in with each one he ends up causing unwanted stress and conflict, usually due to his naivete. This obviously drives them crazy but as things play out, the sisters slowly learn to realize that maybe their brother isn't such the idiot he is made out to be.

     I've given Our Idiot Brother a fairly low score, but it does have a charm about it that I think will appeal to a lot of people, especially ladies. Ned is easy to root for and Rudd does a great job with the character. For me, the movie just seemed to drag way too much for my taste, in the middle third of the film especially. While all the actresses playing the sisters do a fine job, none of them really stood out and took a firm grasp of the role and made it their own. I felt as if I could thrown any of several dozen actresses in those roles and gotten equal, or better, performances. I will not remember who was playing those roles a year from now unless I look it up. The film is directed by Jesse Peretz, a name I had never heard of before, and looking at his IMDB profile seems to be a relative newcomer. He has potential, you can see it. If the movie has appealed to you prior to this and you think it's something you would like, go ahead and give it a shot. If it seems like a movie you wouldn't like, you are probably going to be right. Ultimately I can't give it a recommend.