Movie Review: Cyrus

Living in a small market area, I'm often disappointed that there are many indie movies that never make it to our theaters. When I saw the preview for Cyrus (in the movie theater, no less), I knew it was something I'd want to see. The tagline - "John meets the woman of his dreams. Then he met her son," grabbed me immediately. Imagine my surprise when I found that Cyrus was actually playing here in NEPA. Since yesterday afternoon was rainy and crappy, my husband and I decided to check it out.

John (John C. Reilly) is a divorcee who is still in love with his ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) and still affected by their separation seven years later. Knowing how socially awkward John is, Jamie decides to invite him to a party after telling him that she is getting remarried, I suppose to soften the blow. He tells her he isn't going, then the next scene flashes to him sitting in front of a fire at said party. After a few drinks, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) while he's peeing in a bush. The spark is instantaneous and the two of them go back to John's apartment together.

But something's wrong. Molly never stays the night and seems to be in a hurry to get home. John wonders if she's married and decides to follow her back to wherever she's rushing to be. He eventually ends up at her home and falls asleep, and the next morning he wakes up in his car. John begins sneaking around her home when someone appears. A young man. Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

What follows is sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, and sometimes very, very dark. Molly and Cyrus have a unique and close relationship, and Cyrus is not at all comfortable with John's feelings for his mother. I was amazed at Hill's acting chops; I cannot imagine anyone else playing that role. He played the manipulative, passive-aggressive, spoiled little brat that is Cyrus perfectly. When the relationship between John and Cyrus escalates near the end of the movie, Reilly and Hill are magical on the screen.

I definitely expected it to be a little sillier and have some more slapstick than it did mostly because of the past roles of Reilly and Hill. This is a smart, dark comedy with two guys who are known for their over the top kinds of roles playing more subdued, thoughtful men. Marisa Tomei was also pretty good as an over-protective single mom.  While she was supposed to be a woman completely out of John's league, but I found their supermodel styling of her a little distracting. Two and two were not adding up for me. Catherine Keener, as always, was phenomenal as John's honest and caring ex-wife and best friend.

While there were some things that didn't make sense, the heart of this movie was solid and pure. I enjoyed the performances and some of the dialogue was absolutely hilarious. I think anyone who has a darker sense of humor would really enjoy this film. It is romantic comedy, although it follows quite a different path than others in its genre. There's a lot to laugh at, but there are also plenty of cringe inducing scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed it and thought it was worth every penny we paid for the tickets.