This remarkably human tale is one of the year's best.
Some people just need one good person to believe in them in order to transform their lives. Sometimes that transformation is dramatic, but more often it’s one that just brings a person from loneliness to love, depression to happiness, a static life to one that is active and fulfilling.
In an age when movies seem to lack the confidence to tell such basic yet profound human stories, when it seems nearly every film is a cartoon or action picture and even worse is in 3D (I’m looking at you, Cats and Dogs 2, not Toy Story 3), one picture has come along that is a breath of fresh air. Its name is Cyrus, and it’s rolling out slowly across the country until it goes everywhere July 16.
Starring John C. Reilly (Chicago, Magnolia and, um, Step Brothers) as a sad-sack loser named John who hasn’t had a date since his divorce seven years ago, Cyrus follows his attempt to love again after meeting an offbeat lady named Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party. They quickly fall for each other, but each time she spends the night, she slips out and leaves him wondering if she’s married.
She says she's not, but he still wonders what’s going on, and follows her home one night. Once she heads off to work, he approaches her home to snoop around, and is caught by a heavyset young man named Cyrus (Jonah Hill—check out a Q&A with the star) who turns out to be her 21-year-old son. There’s something a little bit off socially with the lad, and that fact is made even more squeamishly clear when Molly returns home to find John talking with him.
John quickly comes to realize that Molly and Cyrus are awfully close—seemingly too close to be appropriate for a mother and son. But his ex-wife (Catherine Keener) agrees to meet them and says they’re just a bit odd but perfectly fine and sweet people. So far so good, except Molly won’t shut the door even when John’s sleeping over and soon he’s being outright threatened by Cyrus—even ordered not to sleep with Molly.
Right about now, one might fear that this movie is going to be yet another example of Hollywood’s alleged cultural depravity and a boundary-pushing endorsement of incest. But Cyrus isn’t your typical film, and its writer-director team of brothers Jay and Mark Duplass imbue their first studio film (after microbudget Sundance faves The Puffy Chair and Baghead) with all the unpredictability and rich spectrum of emotions that are found in real life but all too rarely on screen.
The one spoiler I’ll give you is the obvious one: this isn’t about incest (otherwise, I’d hardly be raving about it). But Molly and Cyrus are sad and emotionally hurt people in their own ways, just like John. What this very thoughtful and touching (yet also often hilarious) film shows is that even odd and lonely people can find true love and greater happiness if they can just find the strength to reach out of their shells and trust another person.
Despite all the powerful emotions Cyrus raises, the film is hardly sappy or maudlin; in fact, the battle royale that ensues between Cyrus and John for Molly’s attention (a battle she’s largely unaware of) marks some of the smartest and occasionally darkest—though not unpleasant or ugly—humor to come out of Hollywood in ages.
Reilly digs deep into his furrowed-brow Everyman persona to pull off perhaps his best performance yet in a career that’s been richly varied between character drama (Magnolia), broad comedy (his films with Will Ferrell and Walk Hard) and music (Chicago). Tomei finds new twists to her sweet-yet-damaged persona in films like The Wrestler and In the Bedroom, but it's Hill (Superbad, Get Him to the Greek) who is perhaps the film’s biggest surprise. He greatly tones down the brash surliness and frequent profanity of his other starring roles to deliver a performance that gets laughs through unpredictability and is also occasionally heartbreaking. He has the capability to be a true and lasting talent.
Cyrus is rated R, but it’s mostly for the unsettling comedic nature of where the film seems to be going. Its use of profanity is pretty sparing for an R-rated comedy and its depictions of John and Molly’s trysts is tastefully shot to evoke the emotional connection they’re sharing rather than being gratuitous. Better yet, it has strong messages about love, understanding and compassion. For adults looking for a smart and honest film that will make them bust a gut while tugging their heartstrings, there’s no better film out there. It’s my favorite film of the year thus far.
