LA Film Fest 3: Cyrus Review

By Aireka Muse
Published: June 22nd, 2010 | 12:35pm

According to the Cyrus, relationships are surprising, and never one-dimensional. As the film tells it, even the strangest people are worth getting to know. It’s been marketed as a darkly comic romance, but it’s much more—ultimately, Cyrus is a deeply honest story about the depths of family and the ways in which past loves undoubtedly become a part of our future.

Director-screenwriters Jay and Mark Duplass have succeeded here with their first studio film, following on the heels of the loosely structured so-called “mumblecore” films (The Puffy Chair, Baghead), that eventually made them sleeper-hit indie heroes. In the case of Cyrus, including stellar leads John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill, I walked into the theater expecting a comedic hybrid of Judd Apatow and Adam McKay. Instead, I found myself fully invested in a lighthearted-yet-dark love story, rooting for a highly dysfunctional couple regardless of their many flaws. Cyrus is undoubtedly funny, but it’s the film’s surprisingly rich interpersonal moments that exceed expectations.

Reilly plays John, a depressed, struggling film editor still profoundly affected by his divorce that happened seven years ago. He remains close with hi ex-wife, Jamie (Catherine Keener), and when she gets engaged, he decides to get up off the coach and start dating again. In a drunken haze at a party, John somehow manages to meet and awkwardly woo the charming Molly (Marisa Tomei). Almost instantly, the two fall in love. Just when everything is magically looking up for him, John meets Molly’s son Cyrus (Hill)—a manipulative 22-year-old still vying for his mother’s attention and affection. Cyrus is not willing to let John enter their lives without a fight.

When most Hollywood films would take this showdown and turn it into a broad comedy, the Duplass brothers keep the film rooted in candid reality. The characters aren’t afraid to wear their emotions on their sleeves. Even the film’s clever moments are mirrored with sincerity. At times you can’t help by shudder at the honesty—and, ironically you begin to sympathize with the characters and their dilemmas. Perhaps most thankfully, with Cyrus, the Duplass brothers prove that graduating from the indie ranks to the studio big league doesn’t mean you have to lose your edge.

Cyrus is in theaters nationwide.