Our Idiot Brother 2011

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's rare that summer ends on as sweet a note as Our Idiot Brother. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: There's a gap of logic and emotion that's hard to overcome. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Far out. Right on. Peace. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: While too overtly modest to be a comedy game-changer, [it] is almost sufficiently feisty and entertaining to render the term 'a Sundance movie' something less than dread-inspiring. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A thin, unconvincing movie made likable by the charm and skill of its cast and by a script peppered with wit and insight. Read more

Alexis Loinaz, Chicago Tribune: Rudd brings color and dimension to a borderline-simpleton schlub who could have easily become a one-note cliche. Read more

Sam Adams, Time Out: Instead of a Magic Negro a la The Help, these women get a Magic Moron. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: Ned turns out to be a strangely moving figure, a comic foil worthy of affection, perhaps even respect. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Our Idiot Brother" pleasantly bounces along, never quite as funny as you'd like it to be, but almost as likable as Ned himself. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Paul Rudd's charm has seldom been taxed as relentlessly as in Our Idiot Brother, which might as well be called Paul Rudd Is Charming: The Movie. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The reason to watch "Our Idiot Brother" is to see Rudd, whose presence is always welcome. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Peretz has figured out how to make a happy commercial contraption with eccentric flavoring. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Given the thinness of the script, I'm surprised so many name actors signed on. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: In a world of aggravating "Little Fockers"-level shrillness, or "Hangover"-style nastiness, "Our Idiot Brother" - small, but satisfying - is a pretty smart cookie. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The cast members, beginning with Rudd, have an improvisatory ease, and the director, Jesse Peretz, working from a script by Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall, doesn't indulge in the sort of nail-on-the-head comedy that currently reigns. Read more

Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: Welcome to the world of Ned, an eternally sunny realm where everyone is greeted as an old friend and everything will always work out fine, even when it doesn't. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: This movie really doesn't think much of its hero. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: The comedy isn't always as crisp as it should be, but Peretz has the perfect partner in crime in Rudd. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Even the usually likable Rudd can't do much with the enigmatic Ned, who often behaves exactly in the idiotic manner he's accused of. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Dude, where's the movie? Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: The rhythms are gentle, the smiles plentiful, the chuckles frequent, with the overall effect about as pleasantly innocuous as the film's hero. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Despite a pleasantly laid-back demeanor, you wish it would just get focused. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The film goes far on its good nature, though it is never more than gently funny. Read more

Una LaMarche, New York Observer: Our Idiot Brother may not be perfect, but, Crocs and all, Paul Rudd's performance is idiot-proof. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The comedy's relaxed, moony rhythms imbue it with a certain charm, but can result in a certain stop-and-start awkwardness, too. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Director Jesse Peretz commits the unpardonable sin of wasting the considerable comedic talent of Paul Rudd. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Our Idiot Brother kept me laughing throughout. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's refreshing, this late in the summer, to find a hot weather comedy that doesn't hate its characters and embed them in scatology and sexual impossibilities. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Our Idiot Brother comes off as a blueprint for a smart script no one really made. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It's a warm, intelligent and highly contemporary comedy with just the right amount of edge, a terrific ensemble cast and a big, fuzzy golden retriever ready to knock you down and lick you like a giant lollipop. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Easily could have been mildly funny and phony but instead is really funny and true to life. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: I can't quite account for why the whole of Our Idiot Brother seemed to me greater than the sum of its admittedly modest parts. Maybe it's just nice to see a comedy that's about something other than "Will these guys get laid?" or "Which one will she marry? Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's mediocre in a passive, energy-sapping way midway between humdrum and ho-hum. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Rudd is at his best, imbuing Ned with a deep humanity and a surprisingly persuasive edge. And as the sisters, Banks, Deschanel and Mortimer never hit a wrong note. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Strange, then, how Our Idiot Brother wastes its lone asset -- there's not enough idiot, and far too many boring savants. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: While the film does offer its share of zingy one-liners and entertaining character moments, the final result is a movie that can't decide if it wants to be snarkily sweet or mean and misanthropic. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: The movie crafted around Ned is a bit of a shaggy-dog story, struggling with the climax and coda, but the company is so pleasant and the cast so endearing that other flaws are easy to forgive. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A film that offers dumb fun, but in reality may be crazy like a fox. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The laughs are consistent and occasionally outlandish, but more often, they arise out of recognizable family situations. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: A wannabe-feel-good comedy that turns out to be as cruel as its title. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: The film gives permission for a genre already prone to solipsism to finally close in on itself entirely. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Rudd has created a genuinely engaging character in the Candide-like Ned, but "Our Idiot Brother" gives him very little garden to cultivate. Read more