|
Cyrus
is a dark comedy
starring John C.
Reiley and Jonah
Hill and directed by
Jay and Mark Duplass.
It’s very stylish,
it has some funny
moments, and really
all of the actors in
the movie did a
great job. Sure,
it’s not without its
problems and it’s a
little hard to watch
around the halfway
point, but when it’s
over… you’re glad
you watched it and
you’ll come away
satisfied.
Cyrus is about John,
he’s a freelance
editor that’s been
divorced for 7
years, is miserable,
and the only friens
he has is his
ex-wife Jaime and
her fiancé. John’s
life isn’t going
that great when
Jaime makes him go
to a party to try
and pick up some
girls. After getting
ridiculously drunk
and giving up for
the night, John
meets Molly and the
two develop a very
odd chemistry
between them. They
sleep together for a
couple of nights
with Molly fleeing
in the middle of the
night both times.
John follows her
home the second time
and discovers that
she has a son, he’s
22, and he still
lives at home.
That’s not that bad,
but their
relationship is
bizarre, the kid,
Cyrus, is more than
bizarre. The two
develop a subtle
feud for Molly’s
attention, which of
course is bound to
evolve until it
blows up. John has
to overcome Cyrus’
vindictiveness and
find a way to be
with Molly.
The
plot is fine, the
movie is written
well and it’s even
done and produced
very well. There are
some annoyances with
the ‘real’ technique
they used with
awkward zooming in
spots, but for the
most part it turned
out very well. The
Duplass brothers did
a great job with the
movie. The
performances that
the actors gave with
the movie are its
best trait. John C.
Reilly, Jonah Hill,
Marissa Tomei, and
Catherine Keener all
delivered great
performances that
sucked you into the
story and the movie.
The main problem
with
Cyrus…
it’s not funny 80%
of the time.
Cyrus
is supposed to be
this dark and
disturbed kid… yet
he only resorts to
faking panic attacks
and hiding a pair of
shoes? Come on.
There are about a
thousand jokes that
could have been
inserted into this
movie, but they went
with that ‘real’
approach. That makes
the movie watchable
the first time… but
with a few jokes it
would have been
something that’s
more re-watchable
than it is.
The extras on this
Blu-ray are pretty
meager. There’s some
footage from the
movie’s premiere at
SXSW and an
interview with the
Duplass brothers
about making the
movie. Then there
are a couple of Fox
Movie Channel
features with John
C. Reilly and Jonah
Hill, and some
deleted scenes. The
only thing that’s
worth watching is a
music mash-up
feature with Reilly
and Hill- that’s
actually funnier
than most of the
movie.
Cyrus
is a very
independent film
even though it had a
decent budget for
what the Duplass
brothers were used
to working with.
It’s true that it
could have been
funnier than it was,
but it’s also true
that the story is
compelling, the
direction is good,
and the acting is
stellar. It’s
something to watch
once for sure if
you’re into
comedies, but you
probably won’t watch
it more than that.
|