Our Idiot Brother

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Overview

Scruffy idealist Ned (Paul Rudd) wreaks havoc on the lives of his mother (Shirley Knight) and three sisters, Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), and Liz (Emily Mortimer), while overstaying his welcome in each of their homes and voicing his opinions when they aren't wanted. Organic farmer Ned always looks for the best in everyone, but his unfailing honesty continually lands him in hot water. Arrested for selling drugs to a uniformed police officer, Ned gets the boot from his girlfriend, and ...
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Overview

Scruffy idealist Ned (Paul Rudd) wreaks havoc on the lives of his mother (Shirley Knight) and three sisters, Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), and Liz (Emily Mortimer), while overstaying his welcome in each of their homes and voicing his opinions when they aren't wanted. Organic farmer Ned always looks for the best in everyone, but his unfailing honesty continually lands him in hot water. Arrested for selling drugs to a uniformed police officer, Ned gets the boot from his girlfriend, and mourns losing custody of his beloved dog, Willie Nelson. Fortunately for Ned, his sisters are able to recognize his inherent goodness and give him a place to stay as he struggles to get back on his feet. Meanwhile, Ned's unusual habit of telling the truth often comes at the cost of his siblings' sanity, and before long they're regretting their decision to help him out. But just when it starts to look as if Ned might be the dimmest bulb in the box, a sudden epiphany prompts his entire family to consider the prospect that the world would be a much better place if everyone were as honest as their freewheeling brother. Steve Coogan and Hugh Dancy co-star.
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Special Features

Feature commentary with director Jesse Peretz; Deleted and extended scenes ; Making of Our Idiot Brother
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert
Paul Rudd might be the best comic actor of his generation. That doesn't mean he's the best comedian, it means he can inhabit three-dimensional characters and get laughs with dialogue, and that he can find the nuances to make a character that could easily be played as a one-note joke into a real human being. The latter is what he does in Jesse Peretz's Our Idiot Brother. Rudd plays Ned, a hippie pacifist and organic farmer who, during the course of an opening scene that beautifully establishes both the movie's tone and the main character's open-hearted personality, gets shipped to jail for selling drugs to a uniformed police officer. When he gets out, he needs help from his three sisters: Vanity Fair underling Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), who's trying to get her first big story into the magazine by interviewing an heiress; housewife Liz (Emily Mortimer), whose documentary filmmaker husband, Dylan (Steve Coogan), loathes Ned; and would-be standup comic and bohemian Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), whose girlfriend, Cindy (Rashida Jones), is a lawyer. Into their lives Ned tumbles, and thanks to his naïveté and trusting nature, dirty family secrets start coming to light. Meanwhile, Ned keeps visiting his parole officer, and trying to take custody of his dog, Willie Nelson, who's being kept by Ned's ex-girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn). In different hands, say Will Ferrell's, Ned would be a cartoon hippie, and the movie's comedy would come from us laughing at his outrageous facial hair and socially awkward behavior. With Rudd, Ned becomes someone whose seemingly annoying traits are actually a virtue. There's a key scene halfway through the film where Ned says that he knows he's too trusting and open with people, but believes all the goodwill he puts into the world will come back to him. That belief in karma is what makes Ned a noble hero rather than a buffoon, and it gives the movie a surprising layer of depth. This isn't a psychological drama, though, it's a character comedy, and the laughs are plentiful. In addition to a wealth of seemingly improvised throwaway lines from Rudd, there are a number of comedic set pieces -- the family going en masse to rescue Willie Nelson from the domineering Janet; Ned accidentally discovering Dylan's affair; and Ned's TMI visits with his parole officer, to name just a few. There are many characters and a strong cast, and Peretz does an admirable job of giving everybody the right amount of screen time. Ned and his sisters all have traditional story arcs, but the film's low-key offhandedness and gentleness keep the plot mechanics fresh. There's a goofy sweetness to the whole movie, and thankfully the laughs don't come at the characters' expense, but grow out of the clash of their personalities. The movie works so subtly that you might not realize how deeply engaged you are until Ned cracks for the one and only time in the film. During a game of family charades, he explodes in frustration, and the effect is as sobering on the characters as it is on the audience. You realize in that moment how much you care about Ned, even while you've been laughing the whole time. What makes Our Idiot Brother so good is that Peretz and Rudd make sure we see why, contrary to all appearances, Ned really isn't an idiot at all.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 11/29/2011
  • UPC: 013132367095
  • Original Release: 2011

    • Rating:

  • Source: Starz / Anchor Bay
  • Region Code: 1
  • Aspect Ratio: Alternate Wide Screen (1.78:1)
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Time: 1:30:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 23,265

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Paul Rudd Ned
Elizabeth Banks Miranda
Zooey Deschanel Natalie
Emily Mortimer Liz
Steve Coogan Dylan
Hugh Dancy Christian
Kathryn Hahn Janet
Rashida Jones Cindy
Shirley Knight , Ilene
TJ Miller , Billy
Adam Scott Jeremy
Janet Montgomery , Lady Arabella
Sterling K. Brown Omar
Matthew Mindler River
Francesca Papalia Sadie
Bob Stephenson Officer Washburn
Peter Hermann Terry
Kelly Briter Girl With Jeremy
Kayla Squiteri Echo
Summer Squiteri Echo
Linda Haug Tatiana
Wrenn Schmidt Beth
Kathy Fitzgerald Velma
Marceline Hugot Judy
Alexia Rasmussen Chloe
Lucas Near-Verbugghe Max
Polly Draper Ellen
Neal Lerner Darren
Katie Aselton Amy
Nick Sullivan Customer
Gina Artese Ballerina
Silvestre Rasuk Conflicted Kid on Train
Andrew Secunda Curious Man on Train
Adi Hanash Paramedic
Camille Bright Destiny's House Girl #1
Teja Frank Destiny's House Girl #2
James Biberi Guard
Technical Credits
Jesse Peretz Director, Executive Producer, Original Story
Michael Ahern Art Director
Joshua Anderson Sound Mixer
Stefanie Azpiazu Executive Producer
Anthony Bregman Producer
Mariela Comitini Asst. Director
Jacob Craycroft Editor
John Hodges Executive Producer
Susan Jacobs Musical Direction/Supervision
Caroline Jaczko Executive Producer
Eric D. Johnson Score Composer
Aleen Keshishian Executive Producer
Nathan Larson Score Composer
Nick London Makeup
Jeanne McCarthy Casting
Andrew Mondshein Editor
Yaron Orbach Cinematographer
Evgenia Peretz Original Story, Screenwriter
Christopher Peterson Costumes/Costume Designer
Peter Saraf Producer
David Schisgall Original Story, Screenwriter
Marc Turtletaub Producer
Inbal Weinberg Production Designer
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Our Idiot Brother
1. Chapter 1 [3:15]
2. Chapter 2 [2:10]
3. Chapter 3 [5:30]
4. Chapter 4 [3:47]
5. Chapter 5 [5:12]
6. Chapter 6 [4:35]
7. Chapter 7 [7:00]
8. Chapter 8 [4:43]
9. Chapter 9 [3:33]
10. Chapter 10 [4:00]
11. Chapter 11 [4:50]
12. Chapter 12 [8:16]
13. Chapter 13 [2:57]
14. Chapter 14 [1:43]
15. Chapter 15 [5:01]
16. Chapter 16 [3:55]
17. Chapter 17 [5:31]
18. Chapter 18 [4:23]
19. Chapter 19 [3:21]
20. Chapter 20 [3:06]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- Our Idiot Brother
   Play Movie
   Captions & Subtitles
      Subtitles: English for the Hearing Impaired
      Subtitles: Spanish
      Subtitles: None
   Scenes
   Bonus
      Feature Commentary With Director Jesse Peretz: On
         Procced
      Feature Commentary With Director Jsse Peretz: Off
      Deleted and Extended Scenes
         Play All
         Ned Takes the Subway (Extended)
         Ned Waits for John
         Ned in Prison
         Alternate Ending
      The Making of Our Idiot Brother
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