Director: Jay & Mark Duplass
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill & Marisa Tomei
An engaging comedy drama that avoids many clichés and feels surprisingly honest for a film that could easily have fallen into formula.
From Indie filmmakers the Duplass brothers whose low budget films The Puffy Chair and Baghead achieved positive critical response if not commercial success, have returned with Cyrus which would appear to be their most mainstream effort to date. This perception is partly due to two known comedic actors Jonah Hill (Superbad) and John C. Reilly (Walk Hard, Step Brothers) in the leading roles and a marketing campaign that seems to emphasis the film as being much more of straight forward comedy than it actually is. Cyrus however is far more original and in keeping with the brothers’ previous efforts than first appearances would seem resulting in a comedy drama that does include emphasis on the drama as much as the comedy with story, characters and performances that often avoid predictability and feel surprisingly honest.
John (Reilly) is a divorced freelance editor. Seven years after his split up with his ex he is still struggling and has given up on finding someone new. Pressured into coming to his ex’s engagement party to another man he encounters Molly (Tomei) who finds herself touched by some of the honesty John expresses throughout the evening regarding his loneliness. The pair hit it off but John is worried about Molly’s tendency to frequently leave late in the evenings. Spying on her home one day, trying to find out why, he encounters Cyrus (Hill), Molly’s 20 year old son who is still living at home and soon proves to be highly dependant on Molly with the pair having only had each other for company since Cyrus’ father left them both when he was a baby. Trying to get accustomed to Cyrus and win him over whilst continuing his relationship with Molly, John soon finds Cyrus does not like him and wants him out of Molly’s life with Cyrus proving to be smarter and more manipulative than John expected leading John and Cyrus into a careful game with each other over who gets to have Molly’s attention.
Whilst trailers, posters and even the casting in Cyrus suggesting a far more mainstream and comedy-focused film, the actual film is a surprisingly mature affair. There are certainly plenty of laughs but few come from moments of exaggeration with many feeling natural. While audiences expecting/preferring a more straight forward comedy of errors may not be happy with the more dramatic film with which they are given Cyrus is a much better film for its avoidance of the usual clichés of such films and certainly demonstrates the Duplass brothers are not betraying their own sensibilities and will, in fact, reach a greater audience with Cyrus than they have with past films. The film often feels quite honest, not just with its characters but also with the direction its story takes. None of the characters are perfect, even Molly, the object of John and Cyrus’ affections is flawed with her affection towards her son following her partner leaving her 20 years before resulting in a relationship with her son that, while loving and supportive, has not allowed her son to fully flourish and an independent individual leading her to have a very honest discussion over her failures with him when Cyrus’ own problems and manipulations come to light. John, while more noble than his first appearances might seem is a sympathetic character but also demonstrates some of the same neediness as Cyrus whilst Cyrus, despite his manipulations, has motives that come from a very understandable place making his actions not altogether unsympathetic. Audiences are left guessing as to how the story will play out and how each of the characters will be changed.
Cyrus features strong performances throughout. Whilst Catherine Keener is her usually dependable self in a supporting role as John’s ex, bringing some Indie credibility to the film, it is the trio of Reilly, Hill and Tomei that must, and do carry the film. Reilly balances his dramatic abilities seen in films like Magnolia with some of the more comedic talents he has portrayed in films like Step Brothers in the character of John, coming off fully rounded and able to generate laughs and sympathy as needed. Jonah Hill shows some impressive dramatic abilities making his character more than the stereotypical kid-from-hell and Marisa Tomei is also likeable as Molly demonstrating the warmth that would so engage John and Cyrus whilst not being perfect with her too easily able to overlook the flaws in those she cares for.
Better than advertised, Cyrus is not the straight-forward comedy it may first seem but is in fact a much more engaging balance of comedy and drama with its character’s having much depth and them and the story playing out in a more mature, realistic and therefore less predictable manner making the film feel much more refreshing than others that might resort to cliché in the ‘son-from-hell’ stakes.
Rating: 4/5
