Cyrus Review

Title: CyrusMPAA Rating: RDirector: Mark & Jay DuplassStarring: John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah HillRuntime: 1 hour 31 minutes

What It Is?: John (John C. Reilly) is a severely depressed 40-year-old divorcee whose ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) is about to get remarried. Jamie, who is now one of John's closest friends, takes him out partying. It is at this party where John meets Molly. Molly and John hit it off, however, John grows suspicious as to why Molly never invites him to her house. John, confused by this, follows her home one night. Upon awakening in the morning after falling asleep in his car John goes to Molly's house and finds his reason. It seems Molly has a 21-year-old son named Cyrus. At first Cyrus appears all on board for his mother’s budding relationship with John, however, things are not always as they seem. Cyrus starts to plant seeds of breaking his mom and John apart. John knows Cyrus’ game and decides to play ball harder.

What We Think?: Overall this film lacks any sort of “oomph” in its comedic prowess. However, a lot of the funnier parts lay in the subtlest moments. If you’ve seen any of the Duplass brothers' previous works (i.e. The Puffy Chair, Hump Day) then you pretty much know what to expect. John C. Reilly is surprisingly charming as John, Marissa Tomei’s Molly is charming, and as a couple, the chemistry is good but not great. Jonah Hill’s Cyrus brings an almost awkward feeling to this role, bordering on creepy. While the movie struggles to keep the laughs coming, and the moments relevant it is an overall enjoyable experience.

Our Grade: B-, Cyrus has its moments, but all in all there are far too many places where this dramedy feels sluggish and heavy-handed. That’s to be expected as I stated given the director's previous work. Cyrus is also filled with some good performances, especially for John C. Reilly, who quite honestly made a lot of the subtlety funny material downright hilarious.