Cyrus

At first the combination seems like a contradiction. Jay and Mark Duplass's low key, mostly improvised talky style some in the indie world have come to call "mumblecore", combined with the decidedly mainstream Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly. Cyrus is their most ambitious film yet, and a departure from the genre they've made (in)famous. With their most recognizable cast to date comes higher expectations, and the possibility of straining the comedy in order to appease the fans of Hill and Reilly, who have become used to seeing them in over the top roles. Fortunately, Cyrus never goes down that path, instead finding comedic gold out of the real emotions of its flawed characters.

It's easy to forget since we've seen him lately as Dewey Cox or in Step Brothers opposite Will Ferrell, but the first two films I remember seeing John C. Reilly in were Hard Eight and Boogie Nights. He built his career on quirky character pieces, so in a sense it's almost like he's going back to his roots. Here he plays John, a lonely sad sack who's been divorced from his ex-wife(every film's ex-wife Catherine Keener) for years. Yet he's still friends with her and relies on her despite the fact she's about to get married to another guy. John's a nice enough guy. He doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. A little desperate for attention, looking for somebody to love him again and fearing that nobody ever will. Dragged to a party in order to meet some new friends, preferably of the female persuasion, John gets hammered and his emotions begin to spill out. His honesty catches the ear of Molly(Marisa Tomei), a gorgeous woman who's looking for someone to be true with her, too.

There relationship is a whirlwind, and the energy of newfound love is in the air. Molly seems to be holding back something, though. John can't quite put his finger on what it could be that's standing in their way. Then he discovers it: Molly has a son, Cyrus(Jonah Hill). Not just any son. He gives whole new meaning to the term "momma's boy". At 21 years old, Cyrus is creepy as hell and more than a little overprotective of Molly. It's a totally symbiotic relationship. He depends on her for everything, while she encourages his dependency at every turn.  John's insertion into their life screws up their dynamic, which Cyrus perceives as a threat.

What follows could've devolved into Step Brothers-like open warfare, but instead the shenanigans are much more subtle. It starts with something subtle, like stealing John's shoes. Then it slowly snowballs into emotional manipulation that threatens to ruin John and Molly's happiness. After so many years of despair, John isn't about to stand by and watch his chance at love be trampled by a spoiled overgrown kid.

This has been an interesting year for Jonah Hill. Usually the comedic focal point of every film he, with both this and Get Him to the Greek he's taking on a diferent path. In Greek he plays a distant second fiddle to Russel Brand's crazy rocker, Aldous Snow. In Cyrus, we get our first real glimpse at Hill playing a character with many emotional layers. Cyrus could've easily been a cartoonish "bad seed", but Hill shows surprising depth by making him a character we actually feel a little sorry for. He's not evil, or doing what he's doing out of hatred, but because he sees everything he's ever known falling apart. It's easily the best Hill has ever been. You expect multi-faceted performances like that out of Reilly, and he delivers again in spades. The best part is how Reilly makes tiny changes to John's demeanor. His transformation from shy coward to fiercely determined protector occurs so naturally. Has there ever been a time where Marisa Tomei wasn't absolutely beautiful? Has she ever played a character that you didn't want to wrap your arms around and protect?

If you're expecting far out hijinks, Cyrus isn't going to be your cup of tea. The Duplass's don't do slapstick. At least not yet. That doesn't mean their aren't plenty of big laughs. If you haven't seen any of their previous films, consider Cyrus the best place to start.