Mihai Toma
4* Ned is a person who avoids using his mind very often but besides that he's a good man. After being sent to jail for selling weed to a police officer, he's rejected by his ex-girlfriend so he seeks refuge from his mom and three sisters.The girls never loved him, mostly because he is an idiot, so Ned is not very welcome in their homes. They start using him with different task, trying to make him work for a living but all he does is to constantly get into trouble.I didn't understand what this movie was all about. As a comedy, it wasn't actually funny, and as a drama, you can't actually feel sorry for someone who does stupid things to himself. I really can't recommend this movie as its story was as stupid as the main character and the funny part was little or none at all. A bad movie in my opinion.
Mark T.
"I like to think that if you put your trust out there; if you really give people the benefit of the doubt, see their best intentions, people will rise to the occasion."NedNed (Paul Rudd) has just been released from a jail term after selling marijuana to a uniformed police man. His three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer) pity him, because his idealist approach to life seems to get him into easily avoidable trouble. Lots of these difficulties start to begin in Ned's sisters' lives when he returns home. Though this movie appears to be a formulaic laugher involving an ignorant idiot, it is not. The majority of modern released comedies involve no real strong themes, but cookie cut a bunch of gags (and sometimes excessive product placement) to finish with an "everything is okay and back to normal" ending. Characters didn't really earn anything, nothing is truly learned, and all are happy. Our Idiot Brother plays like Ned will learn a thing or two about not doing dumb things, but he actually lives a guilt and shame free life. His honesty and belief in the best of people becomes a reflection of all the characters who come in contact with him. The sisters, his girlfriend, and his nephew's reactions to Ned's nature show more about themselves than Ned. Paul Rudd is at his best, creating a lovable and good-hearted oaf. His approach modifies the concept of the stupid male protagonist a la Forrest Gump. Instead of having to "fix" all the problems he created, people begin to see where the issues truly come from. Ned's character makes you wonder how different society would be if we lived with a heart as big as his.
Turfseer
'Our Idiot Brother' reminds me of two other films involving a passive interloper who affects the lives of a group of siblings. They are the Spanish Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film of 1994, 'Belle Epoque' and the 2001 Irish/English import, 'About Adam'. In both, a young Lothario is the catalyst for awakening the sexual impulses of various family members (in Belle Epoque, it's three sisters and in About Adam, it's three sisters and a brother).'Our Idiot Brother' is a variation on this theme. Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) is by no means a Lothario, but is definitely a passive interloper who acts as a catalyst, eventually transforming the lives of his three sisters, for the good. Ned, a latter day hippie, hardly represents the spirit of Bacchus (as in the other two films), but rather a type who inspires spontaneity. The best part of 'Our idiot Brother' is Paul Rudd, who plays the likable Ned and one finds him charming and offbeat (except maybe for moments when he acts like a complete fool, allowing himself to be conned by uniformed a police officer, who convinces naïve Ned to sell him some marijuana at a local market).Unfortunately, the women Ned plays off against throughout the film simply lack the charm of the film's protagonist. For starters, there's his girlfriend, Janet, who was living on a biodynamic farm at the time Ned is arrested, and when he returns, promptly shows him the door, having shacked up with another hippie type, who is just as goofy as Ned. What's worse is that Janet covets Ned's dog (whose name is 'Willie Nelson'). It's hard to like a humorless character like Janet, whose main characteristic is to be a foil to Ned, in her unrelenting pursuit of good old 'Willie'. Ned's sisters are no more likable than Ned's ex. Take for example, Liz (Emily Mortimer) who's married to Dylan, a pretty much repulsive documentary filmmaker, who Ned unwittingly exposes as a cheating philanderer. Before things break down between Liz and Dylan, Liz has trouble accepting Ned's exhortation that they treat her son River like a normal kid (the parents can't stomach Ned's promotion of 'violent' activities, such as martial arts instead of more 'cultured activities' like ballet dancing). Then there's another unpleasant sister, Miranda, a journalist, who uses Ned to obtain a gossipy personal story from a royal celebrity, who takes Ned under her wings, after she's drawn to his honesty. Ned won't betray the celebrity's confidence, and surly Miranda boots Ned out of her apartment. More unpleasantness: Cindy, the lesbian girlfriend of Ned's other sister, Natalie, who should be the most ethical of all the characters, since she's an attorney, concocts this sad plan to go with Ned, and steal his dog back from his ex-girlfriend. It gets even more unfunny, when Ned blurts out that Natalie has been having an affair with a man, much to the chagrin of Cindy, who had no idea that Natalie was bisexual.The 'dark moment' of the second Act (if there is a dark moment) is when Ned admits that he's been smoking marijuana again, to his parole officer, who's forced to arrest him. Ned doesn't want to be bailed out of jail until the sisters are able to find a way to procure Ned's beloved 'Willie Nelson', which they do, when Ned's ex-girlfriend's boyfriend, decides that giving Ned the dog, is the 'right thing to do'.Ned's good-naturedness finally pays off when Liz decides to start dating again, Miranda begins a relationship with a neighbor she was really meant for and Cindy supports Natalie, as she decides to have her baby. As for Ned, he starts a candle shop with his ex-wife's boyfriend and then meets a woman, who he instantly falls for (note that the woman's dog is named 'Dolly Parton'). Our Idiot Brother's denouement unfortunately is unearned. That's because we ultimately don't find the sisters' positive transformations engaging due to not feeling invested in them earlier. Instead, the film's scenarists needed to make them more nuanced, and certainly more sympathetic, despite their shortcomings. In that way, Ned's affability and trustworthiness, would not have gone for naught.
