IMDb > My Effortless Brilliance (2008)

My Effortless Brilliance (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3)
My Effortless Brilliance (2008) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
5.7/10   74 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 49% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Basil Harris (written by)
Jeanette Maus (written by)
more
Genre:
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
(23 articles)
Humpday Opens Tomorrow in Theaters
 (From ShockYa. 7 August 2009, 12:00 AM, PDT)

'Humpday'
 (From CinemaSpy. 5 August 2009, 9:05 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
'Brilliance' is brilliant in its awkward intimacy more (1 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)
Basil Harris ... Dylan
Jeanette Maus ... Jayme
Sean Nelson ... Eric Lambert Jones
Calvin Reeder ... Jim
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
USA:79 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Dylan: Do you ever wonder what it would be like to bury an axe into someone's head?
Jim: Sure. It's natural.
more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful.
'Brilliance' is brilliant in its awkward intimacy, 13 April 2008
10/10
Author: christin_asc from Atlanta, GA

Lynn Shelton's "My Effortless Brilliance" is a study in the relationship between cocky, fussy, thoroughly-city-mouse author Eric (Sean Nelson) and his ex-best-friend, the tersely powerful journalist and wood-chopper Dylan (Basil Harris). Dylan, fed up with Eric's self-involved antics, dumps him and disappears to live in a log cabin in the woods of Eastern Washington; two years later, Eric arrives (sporting a Prius, white sneakers, and a fear of spiders) to mend the friendship.

The acting style, on the vanguard of the 'mumblecore' movement in improvisational film-making, works beautifully for the tension between Eric and Dylan in this film. Theirs isn't a "movie fight," with two handsome actors shouting witty insults and slamming doors. It's a quiet, painfully awkward, passive-aggressive, eyes-averted fight, no fireworks and no catharsis for the characters either. It's how people who aren't drama queens actually get angry at each other--quietly and seethingly.

The film style in which 'Brilliance' was filmed plays perfectly with the subject matter and acting: the camera is awkwardly and intimately and uncomfortably close, not just over the shoulder of the actors but breathing down their necks. You, the audience, are brought into the awkwardness of the rift between Eric and Dylan, you're part of the problem, you're holding your breath and walking on eggshells too.

Not that this movie is an mess of tension and closeness--all of what I've said aside, My Effortless Brilliance is genuinely funny. It's full of small surreal moments showcasing the absurdity of human interactions doused in Serbian brandy, anecdotes of bullfighting guitar riffs and suicidal house cats and Liv Tyler's derrière.

If you have the opportunity to see My Effortless Brilliance, do not pass it by. Lynn Shelton does a fantastic job studying the way friendships are broken and mended, and the relationships between Sean Nelson, Basil Harris, and Calvin Reeder throw into relief the best and the worst of male rapport.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (1 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for My Effortless Brilliance (2008)

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Humpday We Go Way Back A Line in the Sand Arbie Bleacher Boys
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew External reviews News articles
IMDb Drama section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.