Cyrus by Danika Klyve, NMTV Created by Mark and Jay Duplass, who have never made a movie a average Joe has ever heard of hit one out of the park with Cyrus. Starring the biggest names they have ever worked with in John C. Reilly (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights), Catherine Keener (Where the Wild Things Are, The Soloist), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, Danika) and Jonah Hill (Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) the directors tell the story of one of the strangest love triangles that will ever make mainstream film.
As the movie starts, John (Reilly) is told by his ex-wife (Keener) that she is getting re-married. She insists on dragging him to a party that she and her fiancé are attending the next night. Try as he might, John strikes out with woman after woman, until Molly (Tomei) stumbles across him while he relieves himself in a bush. The two immediately hit it off, and spend the next two nights together. When John goes to visit Molly the next day, he is greeted by the film’s namesake: her 21-year old son, Cyrus (Hill). Cyrus is unnecessarily close with his mother, as is clearly demonstrating by the picture of him breastfeeding when’s he 7. Cyrus has problems with a man being in his mother’s life, because up to this point, he has been the only man in the house… ever. Because of this, he tries to break up the relationship by stealing John’s things, and telling the John and his mom lies about each other. This film explores the difficulties of divorce, re-marriage, dating with children, and parent-child relationships -- and it’s a comedy. This film was shot sequentially, and the actors were told not to memorize their lines, so their acting would seem more authentic, which is guaranteed to make it one of the strangest sets any of the actors have ever been on. Whether because of the uniqueness of the shooting style, or in spite of it, the actors had unbelievably fantastic performances. John C. Reilly captured his character’s mix of love for Molly and loathing of Cyrus while highlighting his social awkwardness caused by spending 7 years alone. Marisa Tomei toed the line between loving her son unconditionally and yearning to finally have a love life. And Jonah Hill, who has traditionally been in over-the-top Judd Apatow pictures, shows that he is more than the crude funny guy, and proves that he can portray emotion on screen. This film is incredibly authentic, with some of the best acting I’ve seen this year. I hesitate to compliment the writing or directing because from what the directors say, a good portion of the film was improv-ed. But, the over-all story is superb. I loved this movie, left with a smile on my face, and kept the smile all the way home. 4 stars.