A while ago Anomolous Material had an article about actors that are better at doing supporting roles instead of playing the main part in a movie. One of the actors that was on the list was John C. Reilly and I agree with his inclusion on the list. He was funny in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, but the reason for it was because of the rest of the cast. In Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which spoofed Walk the Line, he starred and I was really disappointed by that film as it just wasn’t funny. With Cyrus he gets another chance to show he has the star power to pull it off. Does he manage to do it or does this movie show he just can’t?
In Cyrus he plays John, an older single guy, who still talks a lot with his ex, even though she’s about to get married. He just doesn’t seem to be able to find the right woman, until he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party. The two of them start talking and leave the party together. Somehow the two of them hit it off and start meeting again. Because John can be a bit weird he decides to follow Molly home one night, falls asleep and while sneaking around meets Molly’s son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). He welcomes John, invites him in and quickly learns that he’s dating his mom, which he seems to accept really quickly. After a while though, John starts to wonder if there is something strange going on with both Cyrus and Molly.
With two comedians in the cast, you’d expect there to be a lot of things to laugh about, but my expectations were not met. It seemed as though a decision couldn’t be made whether this should be a movie with drama or a comedy. The end result is a hybrid of both which just doesn’t work. After an hour I thought the movie would finally pick up speed, but unfortunately ended up being stuck in first gear.
I think John C. Reilly should stick to doing supporting roles, as I really couldn’t tell whether he was playing a serious role or if some of the things were supposed to be funny.
The rest of the acting was solid (especially Tomei), but with these actors I had higher expectations which the movie could not deliver. My advice is to just skip this movie.
Score: 4
Thanks for the heads up. I was about to watch this over Love and Other Drugs, not exactly a wise choice but I am going with it.
Your welcome. Just had a quick look at your site and looking forward to see your writing style and reviews.
I quite liked this movie… definitely didn’t love it. Have you seen other films from the Duplass brothers? I would recommend both HUMP DAY and THE PUFFY CHAIR. Cyrus has a similar tone and style. I’m not sure they were ever going for straight-up laughs, even though there were a few comedic moments. It wasn’t as good as I might have hoped, but I felt Cyrus was still a solid movie. The success hinges on the relationships, and for the most part those felt under-developed. However, there was still something worthwhile there.
No, I haven’t seen any other movies by them, but if they are the same as this one I’m not too thrilled to see them. Some directors just have a specific way of shooting movies which don’t click with everyone. I have it with most Wes Anderson movies for example.
I’d have to agree on Wes Anderson. I can see how one could love his films, but they just don’t connect with me. The Duplass movies are very raw feeling. Almost seems like ad libbing rather than a written out script. Cyrus felt that way at some moments, but is definitely more polished than their earlier films.
Cyrus was advertised as a comedy, which was the first mistake. Just by casting Jonah Hill and JCR we expected it to be funny… and it was not.
I guess if other actors would have been cast it would have a completely different film. I think every comedic actor wants to prove that they can play serious characters, but it usually doesn’t work.