Review: Cyrus

Cyrus just came to Grande Prairie last weekend, and I was first in line to see it...mainly because I didn't have anything to do Friday after work and I try to spend as little time at home as possible when undesirables are hanging out there.


Speaking of undesirables in your home, that happens to be exactly what Cyrus starring John C Reilly and Jonah Hill is exactly about!

The movie begins with John C Reilly's (whose character is cleverly named John) ex-wife walking in on him masturbating. We then discover that he's a deeply depressed man, whose life has been in shambles for just under a decade since his wife left him. For some unexplained reason, John and his ex-wife are still best friends, and she invites him to a party so he can get out and meet people.

At the party, he drinks far too much, get loser-pissed, and catches the eye of the beautiful Molly, who he takes home that night. This sparks off a loving new relationship. But as always, there's a catch. John's dream-girl Molly has a freakishly passive-aggressive, manipulative, 21 year old son living at home with her. And so the tug-of-war for who gets to have Molly begins...

Cyrus was an excellent movie! It's certainly a film that's darker, with a lot more dry humour, than John C Reilly or Jonah Hill ever do, but they make a great pair. The previews made this look a lot more slapsticky and silly than it actually is.

John C Reilly does an excellent job of weaving a believable character into his usual “I'm saying ridiculous things!” routine. Jonah Hill on the other hand is (in my opinion) funnier in this movie than anything else I've seen him in. He's actually acting in this movie, and is totally believable in the role of a sociopathic son whose sole purpose is to drive people away from his mother.

It also moved along at a great pace. At no point in the movie did I start drifting off and wondering when scenes were going to end, and they didn't spend any time at all on extraneous details and scenes that either didn't matter or weren't funny.

Overall I give Cyrus:

8.5/10

The Pros: Hilarious! It's really dry-smart comedy for the most part. The main characters were all believable and endearing, and the story, while not new, was done quite well. The pacing and delivery was exactly how a comedy film should be made because it didn't get stale.
Jonah Hill's performance should definitely be noted in this one, and I think this was a good step for his acting career.

The Cons: To harp on the story, it seemed a little too similar to Step Brothers, starring Wil Ferrel and John C Reilly, in some aspects. I doubt this role was too far of a stretch for John C Reilly. He was enjoyable, I liked him and everything, but there was very little from him in Cyrus that we haven't already seen in 3 or 4 other movies.
The humour isn't all the accessible to a broad audience either. I have a feeling that people are either going to love Cyrus, or they're going to hate it, and there won't be much grey area in the middle.

If you like John C Reilly, go see Cyrus. You're going to love it. If you like dry humour, you won't go wrong with this pick either. However, if you like physical humour, or comedy more akin to that you'd see in Anchorman or Step Brothers, you'll only enjoy the first 25 minutes of this show.

Okay, enough reviews for now. Stay tuned for Thursday's blog, when I discuss a lump of gum I found on the ground.

Literally. That's what it's going to be about.