Title: Cyrus
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Mark & Jay Duplass
Starring: John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill
Runtime: 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 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 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 it’s 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 bring 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 directors 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.