Our Idiot Brother (2011)

A comedy centered on an idealist who barges into the lives of his three sisters.

Director:

Jesse Peretz

Writers:

Jesse Peretz (story), Evgenia Peretz (story),

Stars:

Paul Rudd, Nick Sullivan, Elizabeth Banks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Rudd	...	Ned
Nick Sullivan	...	Customer
Francesca Papalia	...	Sadie
Bob Stephenson	...	Officer Washburn
Elizabeth Banks	...	Miranda
Peter Hermann	...	Terry
Adam Scott	...	Jeremy
Kelly Briter	...	Girl with Jeremy
Rashida Jones	...	Cindy
Zooey Deschanel	...	Natalie
Emily Mortimer	...	Liz
Steve Coogan	...	Dylan
Kathryn Hahn	...	Janet
T.J. Miller	...	Billy
Shirley Knight	...	Ilene

Storyline

Ned lived a happy life growing organic vegetables on a farm with his hippie girlfriend and his dog named Willie Nelson, but an unadvised incident with marijuana at a farmer's market lands him in jail. When he gets out of jail, he is off to live with his sisters. While Ned is still happy, his sisters are much less so after he manages to screw up one marriage, one job opportunity, one budding relationship and one domestic partnership. He sees those problems as breakdowns in communication, but his sisters see him as an idiot.

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Plot Keywords:

jail | hippie | farmer | marijuana | marriage | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content including nudity, and for language throughout

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Idiot Brother

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,011,631 (USA) (26 August 2011)

Gross:

$24,809,547 (USA) (11 November 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Weinstein Company, The, Big Beach Films, Likely Story

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Pratt was originally cast as Billy but had to leave the project due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

Close to the end of the film when Ned (Paul Rudd) and his friend have opened up a candle-store, his friend is dipping candles into obviously empty containers, since they come out as dry as when they go in, and in many shots you can see the jars being empty of candle mass.

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Quotes

Ned: I need some leg warmers, my Croc is stuck!

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Crazy Credits

Bloopers and outtakes shown during the closing credits.

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Connections

References Gimme a Break! (1981)

User Reviews

It truly was your cliché feel-good movie

I will admit that my hopes were quite high for this flick. No pun intended. Like most, Paul Rudd is a favorite comedic actor of mine. As I expected, he did a splendid job with this flick. The supporting cast also seemed to be quite good. Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, and Zooey Deschanel played the three sisters of Rudd's character. Hence the title of the movie.

The story starts out with one idiotic move by Ned, portrayed by Paul Rudd. Ned is a biodynamic farmer and happens to be selling his crops at a local market. A police officer approaches him and asks for some "green." After Ned insists that he takes the marijuana for free, he is arrested.

The character development in this movie was probably my favorite part. Although frustrating at times, all the characters had that little something about them that was genuine and unique. In addition to learning a lot about Ned (like how he doesn't cheat or lie and trusts others too much), we also witness quite a bit from his sisters too. I really think if we saw the sisters together more often, then I'd laugh a bit more. Although Our Idiot Brother was funny at times, it wasn't the comedy film I was hoping for. I really thought that I'd be laughing more. Perhaps another viewing at another time will perspire such laughter, but I digress.

As alluded to earlier, Ned has three sisters. Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Liz (Emily Mortimer), and Natalie (Zoeey Deschanel). After he's out of jail, Ned tries to live with his mom (Shirley Knight), but that doesn't work out so he looks to his three sisters.

From there the plot begins to unfold. It's hard to discuss it without giving away spoilers. You'll just have to see for yourself.

Also, Adam Scott, Steve Coogan, and Rashida Jones all have an active role in the film. Very fun.

It's also worth noting that part of the filming took place at the historic Hotel Chelsea. I've only been to New York City once and that's the place I stayed. This film really gave me the urge to want to be back in NYC!

Although not the movie that I wanted, it was pleasantly likable and worth a watch.

7/10 Stars.