18FILM
THE GUESTLIST NETWORK | SEPTEMBER 2010
RELEASE FOR SEPTEMBER CYRUS
“Seriously though, don’t f*ck my mom.” From the first frame through to the last, there’s definitely no con- fusing “Cyrus” with any of its more Disney-fied modern family comedy brethren. Writer/director brothers Mark and Jay Duplass (“The Puffy Chair” and “Baghead”) bring us the story of John (John C. Reilly, “”Step Brothers”), divorced for seven years yet still in a go-nowhere rut, and his budding romance with Molly (Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”), single mom to the territorial and pathologically protective Cyrus (Jonah Hill, “Get Him To The Greek”).
While the film’s trailer seems to promise an overly contrived coffee- black indie sitcom, what “Cyrus” so surprisingly gives us is a recognis- able, absorbing adult tale of com- promised grown-ups just looking for a connection and some basic happiness in their less-than-once- expected lives.
Avoiding the naff sentimentality and broad slapstick of more mainstream domestic comedies and resisting the distancing uber-quirk of more artsy fare, “Cyrus” pulls the audi- ence directly into the lives of believ- able people engaged in the tug-of- war battles of everyday.
Now, these might not be people you’re close friends with (or would even want to befriend), but there’s no denying you know them in all their unstylish, awkward glory and have seen their uncomfortable growing pains reflected in colleagues, class- mates and neighbours.
It’s that raw, utterly human portrait and the cast’s performances that keeps the film fully grounded. Even in the film’s most Oedipally outra- geous moments – a violent wed- ding showdown and a hilarious, skin-crawling scene of mother/son wrestling – the film maintains a grip on reality all the way to its satisfy-
ingly open-ended conclusion.
Almost without exception, the com- edy flows naturally from the tex- tured performances and the natural chemistry within the central mother/ son/suitor love triangle.
Rarely giving in to the temptation of an easy audience-pleasing laugh, the Duplass brothers allow their ensemble of accomplished come- dic performers (including Catherine Keener and Matt Walsh) – all more than capable of stealing a scene or overplaying it to produce broad laughs – to employ their impressive sense of timing and gift for subtlety to draw out the story’s humour.
Across the board, the performers - particularly Tomei, who has enjoyed a recent string of performances to prove her Oscar win over a decade ago was far from a fluke (as many critics once seemed to enjoy sug- gesting) - remain utterly genuine,
comfortably inhabiting their roles.
The Duplass brothers aren’t about to be mistaken for mainstream sto- rytellers, but it’s abundantly clear that the establishment has noticed they’re far more than “indie dar- lings.” The film’s handheld style feels a bit like a remnant of an approach the brothers may feel they’re obliged to affect – lest they be ostracized from the fringe for being “sellouts” – but it’s a style fully at ease with the story and performances in this fly-on-the- wall tale.
And affectation or not, this is con- fident filmmaking from two young talents that deserve to be watched closely in years to come.
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