Cyrus

Posted In: Cyrus

Antonina Bacon says...

All I can say is that this was a REALLY great, REALLY sweet movie...its funny though because I expected to HATE IT when my friend dragged me to see it, and I actually enjoyed it more than her, she fell asleep lol.

Posted on March 3, 2011

Shalanda Vandorp says...

"Cyrus" has some richly comic, hilarious moments and some touching (cloying?) ones as well. It has first-rate acting by the three principals. John (John C. Reilly looking as much like the ogre Shrek as ever) is a very lonely, vulnerable guy who thinks he's finally met the right woman for him after seven years in the single desert following his divorce. The woman, Molly, (Marisa Tomei) has an overweight twenty-one-year-old non-working son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill) whose very deep and complicated affection for his mom seems to be so strong it shuts out any hope for John to get in-between them.

Cyrus calls his mother Molly and seems to be more of a rival than a son. Mother and son have a very tight relationship but not, I think, quite what you might have heard. Cyrus is a wily schemer who will do anything to drive a wedge between Molly and John. Does the bit with John's Nikes verge on the psychotic?

At times the camera work is not that of the perfectly photographed motion picture. They use hand-held cameras, and the picture is sometimes out of focus and out of frame. It's directed and written by the brother Duplass known for their quirky movies made on the cheap.

The movie is about relationships, how people cope with life. It is a universal situation even though this one has some weird elements. Two forms of love are vying for preeminence.

Cyrus is not dumb, but rather is shrewd and manipulative. The movie says you have to go for it, give life and circumstances a try.

Years ago there were small movies like "Marty" about losers who try to find love. This movie is similar in some ways but not quite as daring as the hype may have suggested, but it is very good. Some viewers may feel that there's a cop-out at the end. There is a scene in the movie, a bedroom scene where Molly is getting a call from John that you'll want to catch, but it goes by very fast.

I loved the movie and went with the story willingly because it was engrossing, superbly acted, had a lot of laughs, and a tear or two.

Posted on March 3, 2011

Alfredo Micek says...

"First things first, the poster makes this look like some kind of embarrassing rom com (seeon top of page). This does the film a terrible disservice. Cyrus is a wonderfully human indie style flick with a beating human heart. John (Reilly) is still single seven years after his divorce. When he meets a beautiful woman (Tomei) one night at a party and she chats him up, he can't believe his luck. They spend the night together and in the morning she still wants to see him. So starts the perfect relationship. Until he meets her son Cyrus (Jonah Hill in superbly understated style) and things begin to take a turn for the worse.

It may have some huge stars but Cyrus is shot and edited like the indie film at its core. The performances from Reilly and Tomei are pitch perfect and their romance is natural and a truly believable relationship. Jonah Hill's performance would either break the film or make it and thankfully it is most certainly the latter. Cyrus himself is a perfectly constructed character, an emotional rollercoaster of a human being, and Hill delivers in style.Although there is a darkness to his character and a gruelling uncertainty as to what he is going to do next, the tone of the film stays nicely quirky and dark, what exactly is his relationship with his mother? Is it really as strange as it looks....

The script is tight and snappy with real warmth and truth. Thankfully Cyrus never goes for the cheap laughs that so many comedy films fill their running time with; rather than punch lines and pratfalls, Cyrus finds its humour and absurdity in daily life. Relationships are given centre stage as opposed to embarrassing moments which is a refreshing change. There are many laughs to be had but never at the expense of narrative or story.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable film that delivers far more than its poster allows. Superb performances combined with an excellent soundtrack make Cyrus an enjoyable offbeat comedy with a lot of heart". - L.Blain

Posted on March 4, 2011

Rubin Dydo says...

Mumblecore goes mainstream! It's been on the cards for a while now - last year's Apatow-goes-improv male-bonding comedy `Humpday' came close to breaking out of the indie ghetto- but `Cyrus' marks the point when this long-percolating DIY hipster subgenre, famed for its naturalistic dialogue, awkward pauses and painfully extended camera takes, finally hits the big time.



It's largely down to the cast: John C Reilly plays John, a divorced schlub who thinks he's hit the jackpot when he successfully hits on foxy singleton Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a swanky LA party. But there's always a catch, and in this case it's Cyrus (Jonah Hill), Molly's live-at-home twentysomething son, whose Oedipal intimacy with his oblivious mum puts a spanner in John's romantic dreams.



Enormous respect is due to directors Mark and Jay Duplass, whose transition to Hollywood hasn't compromised their singular filmmaking style even a fraction. The result is as warm and wise as the brothers' homemade debut, `The Puffy Chair', while retaining their commitment to sly genre subversion which began with disassembled horror pastiche `Baghead'. `Cyrus' can be viewed as just an effective and intimate romantic comedy, albeit with a pitch-dark edge of discomfort stemming largely from Hill's chilling, revelatory performance.



But it's alsoa witty reflection on Hollywood's traditional ideas of romance and family, particularly among characters of `a certain age': simply by treating these characters as real, with all the uncertainty, emotional baggage and bad decisions that entails, the Duplasses expertly expose the hypocrisy of the airbrushed all-American ideal. - Tom Huddleston

Posted on March 4, 2011

German Spratte says...

John, a middle-aged down-on-his-luck divorcee, meets a beautiful woman he thinks is way out of his league.Improbably, she digs him.The only trouble is her grown up son, who lives at home and just can't quite let go of mommy, and she doesn't seem to see a problem with their level of intimacy and attachment.It's not quite creepy, but it's not normal and not healthy, and it's not going to work out for John unless something gives.



The Duplass brothers follow up their ultra-low-budget quirky independent films The Puffy Chair and Baghead with an off-beat romantic comedy.While more conventional than their earlier efforts, and with a bigger budget and stars, the film still feels as fresh and intimate and real as anything they've done, and is funny without ever quite becoming the farce it initially seems it could become.It is over-the-top - it falls squarely within the romantic comedy genre, after all - but it feels much more authentic than, say, something like The Hangover or Superbad or Knocked Up.In spite of a bigger budget, they are still working on a similar scale, and in a similar style as their previous two films, and remain focused on a situation defined by character rather than plot.The performances, especially those delivered by the three main leads (John C. Reilly as John, Marisa Tomei as Molly, and Jonah Hill as her overly dependent son, Cyrus), are honest and raw and utterly convincing.Jonah Hill is perfect in the title role that seems written for him, a role that tweaks his signature combination of vulnerability and rudeness, and makes it feel fresh and genuine.The style and look, with intimate handheld camera work, fits the story that is being told.In spite of its simplicity, and its spontaneous feel, the writing is actually quite clever - for example, in the way that the relationship between John and his best friend and ex parallels that between his new lover and her son, and the fact that his superficial similarity to her son Cyrus goes some way towards explaining why Molly is immediately drawn to John.It feels too small to be a masterpiece or classic, but it's written well, it feels fresh and often funny. I liked it quite a bit, and will definitely look forward to what the Duplass brothers do next.

Posted on March 5, 2011

Cathey Lieng says...

"Jay and Mark Duplass have been bumbling around in the mumblecore bowels of the indie world for nearly a decade now, taking off-beat premises and exploring the relationship dynamics that arise from them; no one, in fact, is better at extracting the honesty out of a spectacularly bizarre situation. Cyrus is more of the same -- a genuine, heartfelt comedy that organically explores the relationship between a 22-year-old live-at-home layabout, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), and his mother's new boyfriend, John (John C. Reilly). The wrinkle here is that Cyrus and his mother, Molly (Marisa Tomei), have a borderline Oedipal relationship. They're best friends. They share the bathroom together. Molly still coddles Cyrus to sleep. And they wrestle together at the park. They are, indeed, like an old married couple minus the bickering and the occasional sex, though it seems, sometimes, that it's not for lack of want, on Cyrus' part.



John, divorced from his boss Jamie (Catherine Keener) seven years prior, is still hung up on her, lonely, and desperate when he drunkenly spills his guts at a party in a pathetic attempt to make a human connection. He inexplicably finds that connection when Molly is endeared by the honesty of his dejection. They end up in bed together that night, and John's stalkerish courting over the next couple of days does nothing to drive Molly away, despite the fact that Molly looks like Marisa Tomei and John looks like John C. Reilly. The reason, John soon discovers, is that Molly's life has been complicated by Cyrus' complete emotional and physical dependence on her, and her willingness to bend to his neediness has only made matters worse. Cyrus, in turn, feels threatened by the new man in his mother's life. He doesn't want to share her affection.



"Are you f..king my mother?" Cyrus demands of John, the night they first meet. And so begins Cyrus' passive-aggressive campaign of manipulation to drive John away, forcing a situation where Molly will have to decide between the two.



The trailers, the presence of John C. Reilly, and even the premise suggests an indie version of Reilly's comedy, Step-Brothers, pitting two people forced together by circumstance against each other over in a battle over territorial rights. The dynamic here is different, however. The territory is not the lone bedroom; it's the affection of Molly. It's psychological rather than physical. No one sticks their balls on a drum set in Cyrus; it's smarter and more conniving than that. When John and Molly are about to make love, for instance, Cyrus fakes a panic attack, forcing Molly to attend to his needs over those of John.



This is Jay and Mark Duplass' first studio comedy, but aside the talent they've amassed, it's hardly recognizable as a studio picture. That's to its credit, of course. It's the best performance that Jonah Hill has ever given, and maybe the funniest, though there's not one joke in Cyrus. John C. Reilly's desperation is a little too painful and awkward to watch in the beginning, but it ultimately works -- Molly feeds off that dependence and it's the only logical explanation for how she's end up with him, given her relationship with Cyrus. Marisa Tomei, aged but as gorgeous as ever, is magnificent, holding the dynamics of both relationships together, perfectly toeing the line between honest affection and creepiness. It pushes up against the line, but it never really crosses it. It's dysfunction rather than deviancy.



Cyrus is the perfect indie execution of a studio high-concept. I was troubled by that concept initially; the Duplasses find the honesty in the relationship triangle, but I had some difficulties with the honesty of the setup: What were the Duplass Brothers trying to say about the over-affection between mothers and their sons? Does a dynamic like the one between Molly and Cyrus really exist in the world, outside of hillbilly trailer homes or that episode of "The X-Files"?



But that's not the dynamic the Duplasses were really trying to explore, it's just the studio hook. The more honest dynamic is one that so many of us have faced: step-fathers honing in on the existing bond between a single-mother and her children. In that context, Cyrus feels genuine. His behavior is typical of those relationships; it's just that the son is usually 11 instead of 22. But it is a delicate situation for any new partner, who has to win the affection of the mom without alienating the son, an alienation that could ultimately doom the relationship. In the end, that premise backs the Duplass Brothers into a corner I never thought they could extract themselves from, but they eventually drive it toward the most honest ending for which you could possibly hope.



I'd love to see this movie succeed. In a Hollywood system where it seems like every successful director has an angle, it'd be truly great to see the Duplasses' honest sensibility gimmick work. But, I'm not going to hold my breath". -Dustin Rowles



Marisa Tomei: Core & Curves

Posted on March 6, 2011

Marlys Housten says...

Cyrus is a "Romantic" Comedy film from the Duplass brothers starring Jonah Hill, John C Reilly and Marisa Tomei. It's a film I had been looking forward to seeing after enjoying the trailer and being intrigued by what appeared to be a brilliant cast in an original idea. But does it deliver?

Still single seven years after the collapse of his marriage, John (Reilly) has given up on romance. Forced by his ex-wife and now best friend to attend a party, he surprises everyone by meeting Molly (Tomei) and the instant chemistry leads to what seems a perfect partner for the lonesome John. That is until he meets Molly's son, Cyrus (Hill), whose relationship with his mother is a touch unconventional and he is definitely not ready to share her with anyone.



Before seeing Cyrus I was on the back of two rom-com screenings of The Switch and Going the Distance, both slightly different tales of relationships and both films I enjoyed with different levels of appreciation. I was kind of expecting a third rom-com scenario in Cyrus but actually found a film where romance and comedy were never really the dominating genre as character and relationship took centre stage and it took me by surprise. It's positively brilliant.







Jonah Hill is so good is this film, it's by far his best performance and he keeps growing as an actor as well as a comedic presence. He comes across as a few notches short of being a serial killer but having a surreal childlike calmness to his evil which works so well and is at times hilarious, especially his performance playing his new song to John when they first meet or his long vacant stares at John which just say "I want to kill you", Creepy is not the word.



Marisa Tomei is wonderful, I've not seen her in anything since My Cousin Vinny and she plays the difficult role of the over caring mother and wanting lover so well, it feels natural and believable and worked perfectly. Her chemistry and wonderfully flowing dialogue with John C Reilly helps the film succeed, feel natural and through almost the entire film, not a single line felt scripted, greatly adding to the appeal of the film. Reilly is also in his element, I can't remember a film where he has been this good, offering genuine laughs and an wonderful emotional rivalry with Jonah Hill which must have been so funny to film.







Not only is Cyrus darkly funny and incredibly well made, it has a very strong story at its centre, surrounded by excellent and well rounded characters that you will completely invest in, it's a joy and a complete triumph. Cyrus is a film which feels fresh, filmed using the "Mumblecore" style of low budget, improvised script, digital cameras and a lot of talk about relationships, Cyrus benefits from the style as it feels unpredictable and genuine. The Duplass brothers have created a visually interesting film with creative camera movements and sharp focusing on people's expressions that set it apart from any romantic comedy movie I've seen. I'm now looking through the Duplass back catalogue as a new fan.



Cyrus is not going to be to everyone's taste and I'm sure people are going to find it tedious and not full of "gags" like they expected from that big guy from Superbad and the `Shrek' looking guy from Step Brothers. I hope people can understand this is not a quirky rom-com, this is not full of gross out jokes, this is not a vehicle for a pretty actor and a pretty actress to ride the roller coaster of relationships. This is a film about a messed up young adult in a single parent family who has had a very strange upbringing and how mother and son fail at letting new people into their family. It's a film which favours relationships and character examination over a deluge of gags, and it's all the better for it.



I highly recommend Cyrus, more than many films I've seen this year.Gary Phillips



Marisa Tomei: Core & Curves

My Cousin Vinny

In the Bedroom

Step Brothers (Single-Disc Unrated Edition)

Superbad (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Happy Accidents

The Perez Family

Posted on March 7, 2011

Sung Burgard says...

The previews would have you believe this will be an over-the-top revenge farce, and certainly the presence of John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) and Jonah Hill (Superbad) would draw anyone to that conclusion. However, this 2010 film is far darker and melancholy than I expected. There are small-scale laughs, but the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, have something else in mind here. Sharing writing and directing responsibilities, they have created a movie where the three lead characters find themselves in an awkward triangle in which each struggles to come to terms with the situation at hand. With hand-held camerawork from Jas Shelton and the somewhat hesitant pacing set forth by the Duplasses, the resulting dramedy has a ramshackle tone with a surprising edge of suspense that undercuts the pervasive uncertainty in the story being told.



The slight plot focuses on John, a depressed, middle-aged film editor living alone and still not over his divorce from seven years earlier. In fact, he still clings onto his patient ex-wife Jamie and is shattered to find out she is getting married again. She encourages him to go to a party where he immediately gets drunk on shots of Red Bull and vodka. After several failed attempts at conversation, he meets the woman of his dreams, Molly, who is as beautiful as he is socially inept. She finds herself drawn to John's honesty and tenderness, and things go swimmingly until he meets her grown son. His name is Cyrus, and he's actually close to 22, unemployed and still living at home. There is something unsettling about Cyrus whether it's the way he calls his mother by her first name or the pretentiously synthesized music he composes. When things turn serious between John and Molly, everyone starts to feel the co-dependencies unwind in their lives with unexpected ramifications.



The Duplasses selected well in their casting. Reilly brings out the eager awkwardness in John without compromising the fact that he leans far too much on Jamie than either would readily admit. As always, Catherine Keener uses her sharp intelligence and no-nonsense manner effectively in the subsidiary role of Jamie. As Molly, Marisa Tomei balances a fine line between loving and permissive in playing a mother who only sees her son's seemingly vulnerable state, and as she did in The Wrestler, she is not afraid to tread uncertain waters as a character actress. The big surprise is Hill in the title role. Heretofore known for likeable wiseacre parts mainly in the Judd Apatow comedy factory, he brings an unsettling stillness to what could have been purely a comically malevolent role. The plot threads tie up a bit too neatly at the end, but the provocative nature of the film keeps you guessing what exactly have the characters learned from their plight.

Posted on March 8, 2011

Janita Bruski says...

One of the more fascinating developments witnessed in American film-making over the past few years has been the way in which directors with a more experimental and independent spirit have not only edged into the mainstream, but have frequently managed to take some of Hollywood's more staid conventions and transform them into something more intriguing by stripping away the artifice surrounding them.



When PT Anderson put Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, for instance, he teased out a fascinating psychological dimension to Sandler's usual nice-guy, rage-aholic screen persona. More recently, Noah Baumbach did something similar with Ben Stiller in Greenberg, shrinking the distance between his manic comedic persona and the real world by shooting him in unflattering close-ups and populating the story with characters exhibiting recognisable human behaviour.



In Cyrus, directing brothers Mark and Jay Duplass pull off the superlative trick of turning a formulaic Hollywood comedy into an excruciating comedy-drama by shooting it with the casual (if slightly more polished) naturalism of their low-budget efforts The Puffy Chair and Baghead.



Those early works - key films in the briefly celebrated and quickly derided aesthetic movement known as "Mumblecore" - displayed a disdain for narrative convention, but a keen eye for building character and comedy from the more awkward and mundane moments of daily life. It's those skills they bring to bear on this tale of a sad-sack single guy who finds himself dating a beautiful woman only to become embroiled in a war for her affections with her grown-up son.



This is Cyrus, a polite, benign-seeming 21-year-old man-child with an unnaturally close relationship to his mother and a creepily malevolent way of making innocent gestures seem threatening. Played with subtle psychosis by Jonah Hill, Cyrus is all too believable as a button-down psycho-in-the-making as he cracks inappropriate jokes with his mother's new suitor, John (John C Reilly), about her sexual proclivities, then subtly warns him off by dishing out relationship advice while holding a kitchen knife.



At first John isn't sure how to play Cyrus. Unable to believe his luck that someone as gorgeous as Cyrus's mother, Molly (Marisa Tomei), is interested in him, he tries to overlook the fact that Cyrus uses the bathroom when she's taking a shower and won't go to sleep unless the door between his room and Molly's remains open at night. But when his shoes go missing, he obsesses over Cyrus's possible involvement to such an extent that he has to recruit his ex-wife and only friend Jamie (Catherine Keener) to accidentally meet them to see if it's just him that thinks they're a little weird.



The fact that John can't quite cut the cord with Jamie is one of the nice little ironies the Duplass brothers work into their script. Though John and Jamie have been divorced for seven years, they've remained friends, yet her role has clearly become more maternal and, about to get remarried, her fianc

Posted on March 8, 2011

Beryl Reppert says...

Quick Thoughts:

"The Duplass brothers had a minor breakout in 2005 with The Puffy Chair and also gained some attention for Baghead in 2008, but neither film was met with as much appreciation as Cyrus when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

As a comedy it may be more likely this film is heading to Golden Globe attention rather than Oscar, but the cast made up of the Oscar winning Marisa Tomei and Oscar nominees John C. Reilly and Catherine Keener means this one can't be counted out of the race".

Brad Brevet

Posted on March 12, 2011