Cyrus Review

"John met the woman of his dreams...Then he met her son..."

Okay, so I sort of didn't plan on seeing this movie, like ever. Still even with that in mind I thought promos for the film made it look interesting and funny. Yes, even things that I'm fairly certain will appeal to me remain undiscovered by me as of yet. But fortunately I went to the movies with my dad and he wanted to see Cyrus. I figured why not, I mean what else was I gonna see? Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore? I think not, not for me. But I did see Cyrus, and here's my review.

Now going in, I already knew this had "independant filmmaker" written all over it. I was right it is a pretty independant movie. It also looked pretty funny, a darkly kind that I am attracted to, and also disturbing. Like a Cable Guy kind of feel, but not that tense and unnerving. The story deals with a man named John (played by John C. Reilly) who goes to a party to meet a girl at the urging of his ex-wife (Catherine Keener). Just when things seem hopeless for John, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) a sweet, funny, and attractive woman and they hit it off. In just a very short time things seem to be going great, then there's the but. Molly has a son named Cyrus (Jonah Hill) who remains in her home and universally babied despite the fact that he is 21 years old. Though he seems welcoming and polite at first, John gradually becomes aware of Cyrus' true intentions: Cyrus wants John out of their lives, fearing he will ruin the tight mother-son bond he's maintained over the years. So ensues some rather realistic emotional warfare for the love of a woman.

The story is kind of classic. Someone falls for someone else, someone else's child doesn't like someone, they quarrel. It usually paints the guy trying to get with the girl with child as the villain, but here the child is the villain of sorts, who is also not really even a child. The movie is written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, indie filmmakers whose last film Baghead (which I have not seen) was met with Reservoir Dogs-like reviews: "It's good, but you have potential to do better." I guess this is their better. It's a good film, indeed. The writing features realistic people acting out a movie cliche in a realistic way. Cyrus is a movie filled with awkward moments, but whereas some movies may seriously overplay the awkwardness to the point where it is almost unbelievable, this one does it so it feels like something that could happen. Whether it's being in the presence of the shifty young Cyrus or the party in the beginning, it is all very uncomfortable. With the heavy realism in the picture, it also means that the movie isn't the comedy of the summer. It is more of a drama after all. Still it is good movie to see and when you are meant to laugh, you will laugh. It's smart with it's dark humour, but not so much that it might go over some viewers' heads.

My favorite part of the movie was the acting and the cast was perfect here. It's good when a very small cast of characters can generate such power and energy in a movie. They are all believable in their roles too. John C. Reilly, an actor who looks funny and is funny, pulls off the character of John with utter sincerity and confusion, he makes him a strong and loving person who may not want to notice his rival is a "rival" but will do battle when he accepts it. I was glad to see Marisa Tomei play a lovely woman with a good relationship, her last few roles have had her playing the sexy lover of men who don't know how to be with her (Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler). You have a lot of sympathy for her because she needs a good man like John and deserves to be happy as much as he does, but wish she wasn't blind to what her son does to keep her from getting what she wants. Jonah Hill was what really surprised me here. Too many times has this guy been recycled through different movies as the fat, bitchy, curly haired, mini Rogen after Superbad. It was pretty annoying in Superbad, and even more irritating after the other movies he starred in after that featured him as the same guy. But here he is different. He's clean cut, neatly dressed, intelligent, and seemingly nice. This adds not only to his acting credibility, but the manipulative, creepy nature of Cyrus. It amazed me that this guy could go from being the whining Cartman-esque character to the cunning Benjamin Linus type. Though there were moments where I thought the Cyrus character could have been the love child of Mark David Chapman and 70s Patty Hearst, he was still as well-developed and realistic a character as the others. A character that was pretty genuine. So yes, Jonah Hill keep choosing different roles like this one, don't allow yourself to be typecasted. Also Catherine Keener is always great to see. Here's another actress who plays a woman with at least one bad experience with someone (40-Year Old Virgin; Being John Malkovich; Synechdoche, New York), but still she was a nice, sweet person here and I'm glad her character's relationship with Reilly's was a friendly one. Acting gets an A-Plus.

Cyrus will certainly not be for everyone. Some people out there will see John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill and the jokes in the trailers and immediately think this will be Step Brothers meets Superbad. They will be wrong. For people who just enjoy various kinds of movies, this will be for you. I recommend it because it's the kind of movie I like, and if you read my blog you should know what kind of person I am. If you are like me you will probably enjoy this movie. If not, then I'm sorry I led you astray. Either way Cyrus was a clever, involving, and very discomforting (in a fun kind of way) movie. That's all I've got to say about it.

This has been an August review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.