Review: Our Idiot Brother (2011)

I watched this on my iPad (thank you Sky Go Extra) on route to Geneva for work.  I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, I knew it wasn't going to be intellectually stimulating or hilariously funny but it was going to be an easy watch, and that it was...

 

I think that because I didn't put too much pressure on this film to be amazing, I just enjoyed it for what it was.  It is the story of Ned (Paul Rudd) who unwittingly gets himself arrested for selling weed to a cop.  Once out on probation his (mean) girlfriend has moved on and taken his lodgings with her and he finds himself in the big bad world by himself.  Enter his three controlling sisters played by Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel and Elizabeth Banks - who do nothing but try to change Ned.

 

The rest of the film is the development of the relationships between Ned and his sisters and how all of their lives are changed because of his arrival.  It has really lovely moments between the family and also some very realistic moments, the argument between the three sisters near the end of the film (I can't say anymore because it would be a spoiler) is so much like my three cousins, they absolutely nailed it.  The film flowed well but it was lacking the comedy that the cover/trailer promised and replaced it with drama which I wasn't expecting when I started watching it.  The drama however is good enough to keep you watching even though it doesn't make you laugh.

 

Now I want to say that Jenna's review is a bit of a shame, because Our Idiot Brother has been on my radar for quite some time now, but when I think about it, the only reason it was ever on my radar is because of the cast, none of the plot really gripped me. I'll probably give it a watch at some point, I'm just not rushing out to do so.

 

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this again but I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy watch that takes no real thinking.