Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jesse Peretz
Produced by Anthony Bregman
Peter Saraf
Marc Turtletaub
Screenplay by Evgenia Peretz
David Schisgall
Story by Evgenia Peretz
David Schisgall
Jesse Peretz
Starring Paul Rudd
Elizabeth Banks
Zooey Deschanel
Emily Mortimer
Adam Scott
Kathryn Hahn
Steve Coogan
Hugh Dancy
Rashida Jones
T. J. Miller
Music by Eric D. Johnson
Nathan Larson
Cinematography Yaron Orbach
Edited by Jacob Craycroft
Production
company
Big Beach Films
Likely Story
Distributed by The Weinstein Company
Walkmark Films
Release dates
  • January 22, 2011 (2011-01-22) (Sundance)
  • August 26, 2011 (2011-08-26) (United States)

[1]

Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $5 million[2]
Box office $25,861,249[3]

Our Idiot Brother is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jesse Peretz and starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer. The script was written by Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall based on Jesse and Evgenia Peretz's story, and tells the story of an idealistic man who intrudes and wreaks havoc in his three sisters' lives.

The film was co-produced by Anthony Bregman, Peter Saraf, and Marc Turtletaub. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival[4] and was given wide release on August 26, 2011.[5] The film received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the story and Rudd's performance, but criticizing the uneven script.

Plot

Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) is a biodynamic farmer living with his girlfriend, Janet (Kathryn Hahn). While selling produce at a local market, Ned sells marijuana to a uniformed police officer due to the officer's claim that he had a stressful week, which made Ned feel sympathetic after initially being skeptical. Ned is then arrested on a charge of selling drugs.

Ned has three sisters: Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is a journalist for Vanity Fair trying to get her first major article published. Though she has trouble finding a man to keep her interest, she and a neighbor, Jeremy (Adam Scott) have hidden feelings for each other. Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), is an independent, bisexual hipster living with her girlfriend, Cindy (Rashida Jones), and five other roommates. Liz (Emily Mortimer), the oldest, is married to Dylan (Steve Coogan), a documentary filmmaker. Their marriage is failing as Dylan shows no sexual or emotional interest in Liz. They also have strict control over their son River (Matthew Mindler), which leaves him unhappy and unable to express himself.

When Ned is released from prison, he returns home to his girl and his dog ("Willie Nelson"). He finds that she is living with Billy (T. J. Miller), and no longer wishes to continue their relationship or allow him to work at the farm. Billy gives Ned a ride into town and tells him that if he can scrape together $500, Janet might let him stay in the goat barn for rent on the farm. Ned stays at his mother's house which he is less than enthusiastic about. A few days later, Ned shows up at Liz's house, asking if he can stay with her. He is put in River's room and told that he must help around the house and work with Dylan on his newest documentary about a Russian ballerina named Tatiana (Lydia Haug).

The next day, Miranda reluctantly asks Ned to chauffeur while she interviews an important client, Lady Arabella (Janet Montgomery). Miranda hopes to pry into her scandalous past, but is dismayed to learn of a legal agreement to only ask about charity work. Miranda tries to pretend Ned isn't there, but his friendliness charms Arabella, who takes a liking to him. That night, Ned goes with Natalie to a self-help meeting with Natalie's artist friend, Christian (Hugh Dancy). Christian is attracted to Natalie but is dissuaded by her lesbian relationship until Ned informs him that she is bisexual and likes guys too. Christian and Natalie take a cab home and end up having sex.

Ned goes back to working with Dylan, but is told to watch the car while Dylan conducts a private interview with Tatiana. Hours later, Ned is told by a police officer to move out of a tow zone. He runs upstairs to get the keys and discovers Dylan naked with Tatiana. Dylan later says the only reason he was naked was to make Tatiana feel more "comfortable" while being naked which Ned believes. The next night, Ned goes with Miranda to Arabella's benefit dinner, and stays behind to have a conversation with Arabella. She explains the gossipy part of her life (that Miranda had hoped to discover) to Ned, who listens with interest. Ned is later kicked out of Liz's house because, at an important school interview, River tells the interviewer that Ned just got out of jail for selling drugs to a policeman. Ned apologizes, stating he was only trying to help River be himself. Now staying with Miranda, Ned casually mentions Dylan's nude interview with Tatiana and Miranda concludes that Dylan is having an affair. Ned also mentions a personal detail about Arabella that makes Miranda realize that Ned has the info she needs. She forces Ned to tell her the details, which Ned is ashamed to do since he was trusted. Ned returns to the farm with money but is not allowed to rent the barn.

Ned asks Cindy, who is a lawyer, about ways to get custody of his dog but she suggests as an alternative that they work together to steal the dog from Janet. He later goes out to lunch with Jeremy and hints at Jeremy's attraction towards his sister. Jeremy explains that Miranda is too bossy for him, though admitting she is beautiful. Ned mentions the idea to Miranda, who is hurt to learn what Jeremy had to say and tells Ned her thoughts on Jeremy, leading to a fight between the two. Natalie later confides in Ned that she is pregnant. Miranda and Nat try to tell Liz about Dylan's affair but Liz becomes angry and the conversation turns into an argument between the three about their personal lives. Liz later confronts Dylan about the affair, and he blames her attempts at pleasing him.

Miranda takes Ned into work the next day to vouch for his statements. Ned reads the article and is shocked to see how personal Miranda made it and refuses to admit that it was all true in order to spare Arabella the embarrassment to the company's lawyer. However, this means Miranda's article will not get published and her editor is angry. She kicks Ned out and he stays with Nat, who lies about having told Cindy about the cheating. The next morning, Cindy and Ned drive to the farm to steal his dog back. They sneak into the house but Ned casually brings up Nat's infidelity and Cindy angrily calls Nat from inside the house, which alerts Janet to their presence. Janet refuses to give Ned his dog and Cindy drives away, leaving Ned behind.

Ned goes to his parole officer, Omar, and tells him that the stress of his life was getting to him and he smoked marijuana with a neighbor. Omar tells Ned now he must report him. Ned goes home to family dinner and is blamed by his sisters for all the trouble in their lives. Ned finally loses his temper and yells at them for their selfishness and for bringing everyone else down which seems to strike a chord with them. Omar arrives with an officer to take Ned into custody despite being upset at having to do so. Miranda posts Ned's bail, but he refuses to sign his release form, opting to stay in prison rather than be with the girls. They devise a plan to get Willie Nelson from Janet in order to get him to leave. Although Janet refuses, Billy comes out of the house carrying Willie Nelson, tired of Janet refusing to give Ned his dog. They take Willie Nelson to the prison where he is reunited with Ned, motivating him to leave prison.

A few weeks later, Ned is out to lunch with his sisters. Nat receives a call from Cindy, who wants to go with Nat to her gynecologist appointments for support. Miranda has patched things up and started a relationship with Jeremy. Liz has decided to start dating again and has started letting River be himself. Meanwhile, Ned and Billy have opened up a small homemade candle shop together. One day, Ned cannot find Willie Nelson and begins running through town looking for him. He finds Willie playing with another dog who has also run away from her owner. The owner, Amy, comes up and when Ned asks her dog's name, the owner replies "Dolly Parton" to which Ned says his dog is "Willie Nelson" and smiles.

Cast

Production

Development

The story was conceived by Jesse Peretz and his sister Evgenia, who had written a screenplay together before but were unable to finance the project. They greatly enjoyed working together though, so they decided to draft another story, this time "a bit more commercial" and with characters in their 30s.[6] They planned to cast actors with whom Peretz was already friends, and created the main character with Paul Rudd in mind.[6][7] The script was written by Evgenia Peretz and her husband David Schisgall, and was completed by December 2009 under the original title of My Idiot Brother.[7]

Peretz brought the script to producer Anthony Bregman, with whom he had worked on the 2007 film The Ex. According to Bregman, "I was always looking for something to do with him [Peretz] and he came to me with this script. It was fantastic."[7] Bregman was familiar with producers Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub and had previously attempted to collaborate with the two. He sent them the script in April 2010 and Saraf said that he "loved it and was eager to work with both of them [Bregman and Peretz]."[7] The film was co-financed by Bregman's production company, "Likely Story" and Saraf and Turtletaub's company, "Big Beach",[8] with a budget of less than $10 million.[7] The project developed unusually rapidly for an independent film; Bregman remarked in September 2010, "We worked on it for a few months and then it came together really quickly for the world of independent film. [...] We will have a cut of the film less than a year after we saw this script."[7] Saraf said, "This movie will set a record for how quickly it came together: from the time I first read the script to the time we wrapped the shoot was four months."[7]

Casting

Paul Rudd signed on to play the lead role even before Saraf and Turtletaub had picked up the film.[7] The principal cast was announced in early June, including the roles played by Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, and Rashida Jones.[9] Additional cast members including Hugh Dancy, Kathryn Hahn, Shirley Knight, Janet Montgomery and Steve Coogan were announced in late July.[8][10]

Filming

Principal photography began in July 2010 and took a total of 30 days[7] over a six-week span.[6] Filming took place in and around New York City, with a 30% tax credit from the New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development.[7] Various locations were used in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as Upstate New York;[6] specific locations included Washington Heights, Cold Spring, New York, The Hamptons, Hotel Chelsea and Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg.[11] Post production was completed in Big Beach's New York offices.[7]

Reception

Our Idiot Brother received positive reviews from critics, holding a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The critical consensus reads: "It's decidedly uneven, but like Paul Rudd's performance in the title role, Our Idiot Brother is too charming to resist."[12] The film also received a score of 60 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[13]

Release

Our Idiot Brother was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 29, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "Sundance Film Festival 2011: My Idiot Brother". Sundance.Slated.com. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (25 August 2011). "Movie Projector: 'The Help' to brush off the competition again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  3. ↑ http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/My-Idiot-Brother
  4. ↑ Savage, Sophia; Thompson, Anne (2 December 2010). "Sundance Out-of-Competition Lineup Adds Stars, Classics and Many For-Sale Titles". indieWire. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  5. ↑ Nicholson, Max (21 July 2010). "My Idiot Brother Expands its Cast". IGN. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Brian; Renninger, Bryce J. (14 July 2010). "In the Works: Star-Studded "Idiot Brother," "NYC B&B," Sweaty Bombay, Immigrant Musician & Puppets!". indieWire. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kay, Jeremy (9 September 2010). "My Idiot Brother". Screen International. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  8. 1 2 Fleming, Mike (28 July 2010). "Steve Coogan Joins 'My Idiot Brother'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  9. ↑ Barrett, Annie (9 June 2010). "'My Idiot Brother': Presenting Paul Rudd's sisters..". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  10. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (21 July 2010). "Four actors join Paul Rudd comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  11. ↑ Perlman, Matthew (18 July 2010). "My Idiot Brother". NYC Production News.
  12. ↑ Our Idiot Brother at Rotten Tomatoes
  13. ↑ Our Idiot Brother at Metacritic
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