The One I Love

A couple (Mark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss) rents an isolated cottage for the weekend in hopes to regroup their marriage and find ideal and subversive alternate versions of each other inhabiting their getaway residences. The One I Love stretches its Twilight Zone premise (the show is even referenced in the movie) and absolutely falls apart towards end when it turns darks and grows confusing and silly. Duplass and Moss are likable and a few laughs along the way help.

** 1/2 out of ****

Your Sister's Sister

A young woman (Emily Blunt) offers her close friend (Mark Duplass) the keys to their rustic family home after seeing he is still in pain a year following the death of his brother. Upon his arrival he unexpectedly finds her sister (Rosemarie DeWitt) on the premises and sleeps with her before another unexpected arrival of his best friend the next morning. Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister is a scant and silly comedic exercise which is given much weight by its three engaging stars and further embedded by the gorgeous location photography.

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon

Mark and Jeremy (Steve Zissis and Mark Kelly) are two middle-aged brothers with a wounded relationship stemming from an Olympic style 25 event contest they created and participated in as teenagers. Brought together for a gathering at their childhood home, the siblings again take part in the epic challenge to determine once and for all who is the greatest brother. "The Do-Deca-Pentathlon" is another ultra low-budget (at least it feels that way) and keenly observant film from Mark and Jay Duplass who take a break from working with big name stars and again film with a relatively unknown cast. The film is small but not slight, capturing the essence of brotherhood and making many smart and funny observations during its duration. I watched this movie with a smile on my face, as I do during most of The Duplass' films, and actually pictured my own brothers behind the camera waiting for filming to stop and eager to take up the latest fight to the death table tennis match.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Still reeling from the death of his father, and living at home with his mother (Susan Sarandon), a 30 year old loafer (Jason Segel), who believes in cosmic coincidence and is currently mesmerized by the M. Night Shyamalan movie "Signs", encounters his more ambitious brother (Ed Helms) and then their mother during life changing moments of their lives, all during the course of a one-day odyssey of sorts through Baton Rouge. "Jeff, Who Lives At Home" is another low-key, poignant, perceptive, and very funny film from the brothers Duplass (Jay and Mark) who have taken their spearheaded and much maligned mumblecore movement and transformed it into something keen and meaningful. This is one of the first films for me where Segel has come into his own on screen, Helms is in fine form also, and Sarandon is great as usual. At a time (especially this calendar year) when audiences are assaulted by effects laden blockbusters or indies with unnatural characters bearing no resemblance to anyone in reality, it is refreshing to see such a simple, humorous film inhabited by real people.

Safety Not Guaranteed

A lonely, out-of-place intern at a small Seattle journal embarks on a journey to a small town with three of her coworkers in search of a story: to interview a man who has placed a personal ad seeking someone to time travel with him. While her roommates pursue ulterior endeavors, the young woman answers the ad and feigns interest in the paranoid eccentric, as she gradually develops feelings for him. "Safety Not Guaranteed" is a funny, delightful, and surprisingly well crafted feature film debut from director Colin Trevorrow that features warm performances and an engaging premise that builds from a "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" jump off point. Aubrey Plaza shines in the lead role, and brings humanity to the kind of jaded, sarcastic young person roles that have grown tiresome recently. Mark Duplass, appearing in his umpteenth film this year, hits the right notes as the kooky grocery store clerk who believes he may have discovered the secrets to time travel. There is also an excellent subplot involving Jake Johnson who seeks out an ex-flame (Jenica Bergere) and helps his other nerdy intern lose his virginity (Karan Soni). "Safety Not Guaranteed" is quite simply a fun film (we are even given a time travel apparatus that may rival the Delorean) that is given even more weight by its fine performances and high film quality.

Cyrus

The problem with black comedies is that filmmakers opt to make them too black, utilizing unsavory material that could never be resolved. Cyrus acts like its heading down this path but winds up taking a side route and comes up with a resolution that is reasonable and entertaining. It tells the story of John (John C. Reilly), a depressed publisher who finds new life at a party with Molly (Marissa Tomei) and takes up with her. All is swell until he meets her possessive son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) who has a beyond strange strange relationship with his mother, and the young lad decides to get John out of the picture by any means necessary. The setup has Apatow/dick/fart jokes written all over it, but as we watch it, it becomes clear that it is more sincere than any of those films pretend to be. Take John C. Reilly. Due to recent roles, we forget that he is a stage trained actor and as the film opens and his ex-wife (the lovely Catherine Keener) walks in on him in an uncompromising position, we think this is going to be another Step Brothers, manboy retread. Instead, Reilly shows his depth and nuance, and his character proves to be an intelligent adult who is able to handle situations instead of falling victims to their pratfalls (what's he doing using the word overtures anyhow). Jonah Hill brings his usual and amusing comic sensibilities to the part, and the film seems partly like a dissection of his behaviors. The other characters even comment on whether or not he is "genuine" when he gives his glib replies and hides behind his goofy facades. Even Hill reveals a layer that wasn't there before and with the always superb acting from Keener and Tomei, they join Reilly and bring this to a form of comic excellence. I came across the word "mumblecore" when reading reviews for this film and it is a recently coined term referring to low budget films mostly filmed with a digital shaky-cam dealing with relationships. The Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, who directed are considered to be the forerunners of the movement and they may be on to something when it comes to human comedy and behavior.
***1/2