[4]

Paul Rudd leads an ensemble cast in this dramedy about a naïve, aimless man who free-loads off his three sisters after he’s released from prison. Conceptually, this is the perfect ‘adorable doofus’ role for an affable actor like Paul Rudd. And he does a fine job as expected. But Our Idiot Brother is so rooted in telling the dramatic story of three sisters who learn and grow from the brother they take for granted, that it suffocates the potential for comedy. And with co-stars as ebullient as Elizabeth Banks, Kathryn Hahn, Zooey Deschanel, Adam Scott, and Rashida Jones, the lack of comedy stings all the more.

Taken for the drama it is, Our Idiot Brother struggles to find its focus. Once it pulls itself together, unfortunately, it wobbles straight into the formulaic mediocrity gutter. The cast are almost enough to keep us watching, but just barely. While no one really soars with the material, T.J. Miller gets my vote for most valuable co-star. Miller plays the new boyfriend of Rudd’s old girlfriend (Hahn), who gets on ridiculously well with Rudd. I laughed two or three times during the movie, and it was always because of T.J. Miller. Directed and co-written by Jesse Peretz (Girls, GLOW).