SYNOPSIS:
John
C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Oscar® winner Marisa Tomei star
in this quirky, hilarious story about love, family and cutting
the cord. Not-so-recently divorced John (Reilly) thinks he's
finally found the perfect woman when he meets the sweet and
sexy Molly (Tomei). There's just one problem - Molly's son
Cyrus (Hill) clings to his mom like lint on a T-shirt, and
he's not about to let another man come between them. It's
one hysterically awkward moment after another as John and
Cyrus fight for the right to be Molly's #1 man.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You know a movie has got some guts when it
opens with a scene of its male protagonist, well, to put it
in the most subtle manner, pleasuring himself in the bedroom
while watching something on a laptop. His ex wife walks in
on him and walks off in shock. How’s that for grabbing
your attention?
This is just the beginning for our anti hero.
He is a seven year divorcee who meets the woman whom he thinks
is the love of his life. And when you think all’s happy
and everyone’s ready for a blissful ending, her son
appears interferes with the budding romance, both unintentionally
and intentionally.
To make things a little more down to earth,
the male lead is played by John C. Reilly (we will always
remember him as the sympathetic Mr. Cellophane in Rob Marshall’s
Chicago), and his love interest’s grown son is the pudgy
Jonas Hill (Funny People). The already finely cast actors
are joined by underrated actresses Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
and Catherine Keener (Capote) in the roles of the woman of
Reilly’s dreams and his ex wife respectively.
These four individuals are in their top forms
here: Reilly effortlessly has us feeling for him, Hill has
a certain charisma that has you believing that the grown man
genuinely still needs his mother’s constant caring,
Tomei is understatedly attractive, while Keener provides the
reliable support Reilly can turn to. The roles are perfectly
cast here, with each of them comfortably delivering charming
performances which will have viewers engaged for the film’s
entire 91 minutes.
Credit also goes to the writer director duo
Jay and Mark Duplass, for not succumbing to the potential
melodramatic theatrics such a story could possibly indulge
itself in. The screenplay is crisp and minimalist, largely
due to the low key and unobtrusive approach to telling this
rather quirky tale. It has got its comedic moments (the opening
scene is a testament to that), but it has also got its truly
heartfelt sequences too.
This
movie is not your high budget Hollywood blockbuster with lots
of car crashes, computer generated effects and sensational
scenes. Heck, the leads are exactly your stereotypical eye
candy here. The humble and unassuming style of this well written
movie will allow you to actually sit back, relax and enjoy
the story for what it is. And this sort of film is exactly
what has been sorely lacking from Hollywood.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There
is nothing to complain about the movie's visual transfer,
and you can choose to watch it in English, Portuguese, Spanish
or Thai Dolby Digital 5.1.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted
on 30 March 2011
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