Our Idiot Brother Review

Our Idiot Brother Review

There are two ways to look at the world around you. You can accept the notion that people are inherently evil and as a result untrustworthy. If you believe in this notion then you likely distrust people, and when they are evil you are prepared for it, unsurprised, and not disappointed. This may sound like a jaded, and skeptical philosophy, but it is a safe philosophy that will likely leave you undamaged. Then there is the opposite notion, the concept that people are inherently good inside. Those who subscribe to this philosophy believe that if you give people the benefit of the doubt, and trust that they will live up to it and try to be the best that they can be. Ned, played by Paul Rudd, believes in the latter.

His belief in the goodness in people is labeled as idiocy by those around him, and while I do believe that Ned lacking in common sense (his actions throughout the movie show this), his good nature and innocence are hardly idiotic. Ned simply believes the best in people, even when they are not. Ned is perceived by those around him as a slacker. Recently been paroled from prison for selling marajuana to a uniformed officer, Ned is struggling to get back on his feet. His girlfriend has replaced him, forced him off her farm, and even taken sole custody of his dog, Willie Nelson. Despite all these set backs Ned is upbeat and positive. He relies on the kindness of his three sisters (Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks, and Zooey Deschanel) to help him with a place to live and the occasional odd job.

In his various encounters living with his sisters he begins to foul up their lives. He doesn't intentionally interfere, nor does he want to cause them harm, he is simply just honest. Whether is is to his benefit or not his one moral code is to be pure and honest with everyone. His belief may cause problematic relationships with those around him who do not also believe this, but to be nothing but open and honest with people is noble, and Ned is certainly a character of great moral nobility.

The movie is charming and witty and may be so because it was blessed with acting far superior than it's writing deserved. All of the supporting players do an excellent job and play their characters wonderfully. The real stand out actor of the film however is Paul Rudd. He treads a fine line between innocent and idiot constantly. He must be naive enough to believe that naked interviews in documentaries about ballerinas is commonplace, but astute enough to know when he is being manipulated. In several instances he has to play the part as childlike and mature simultaneously.

Christ figures are common if not over used in film. Ned, while not a Christ figure could easily be described as a Buddha figure. Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding. The truth is Ned is far from an idiot, he is not a buffoon, or a dummy; he is in fact wise beyond his knowledge.

Cars 2 Review

Cars 2 Review

Pixar is known for its great animation, its clever and inventive stories, and its creative characters. They have defined their brand with quality. Each and every movie they have made has been top quality, and Cars 2 is no exception.

The first Cars was my least favorite Pixar movie.  I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of personifying cars, and lets be honest the story was a blatant rip off of the Michael J. Fox classic Doc Hollywood. I thought it was good, even the worst Pixar film is better than most other movies, but in my opinion Cars was not really their best work.

Pixar has stated that unless there is a good reason, a creative reason, there will not be sequels to their films.  This philosophy has served them well. Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 are great movies first, and sequels second. Cars 2 continues this trend.  The creators purposely avoided the pitfalls of making a traditional sequel and instead push the story in a wonderful new direction.

The direction they decided was brilliant. At its core Cars 2 is a spy thriller, with more in common with James Bond than with Nascar. They don't ditch the racing, but rather than focus on the racing which would have been admittedly repetitive, Cars 2 gears itself towards action and adventure.  Cars 2 is a much more exciting film than the first one. Just like a Bond movie, Cars 2 is full of car chases, tire to tire combat, and some very exciting action sequences.  The creators took this world they created in the last movie and purposely chose do something different with it.  There are several blatant, and brilliant nods to James Bond, Austin Powers, and many other classic spy films.

The plot is driven this time not by Lightning McQueen, but by Mater, the innocent, childlike redneck tow truck. Mater has unwittingly become the spy who knew too little. Aided by two British Intelligence agents, an Austin Martin named Fin McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine) and a Jaguar XJR-15 named Holly Shiftwell (voiced by Emily Mortimer), Mater must help save the world from a diabolical syndicate called LEMON. LEMON is of course comprised of famous clunkers, like Gremlins, Pintos, and other commonly known jalopies. Of course all of the makes and models of the cars fit perfectly with their stereotype characters.

One of the more interesting plot points was the concept of Big Oil using alternative fuels as a catalyst for controlled change.  If oil companies control alternative fuels then we remain at their mercy. Should these oil companies decide that alternative fuels aren't profitable, then we likely won't see change anytime soon. But maybe I am reading too much into the political subplot, maybe the creators just like in the Bond films made a villain interested in world domination, which in the world of Cars, would of course be control of petroleum products.

Overall Cars 2 was a fun and exciting movie.  It expanded the world of Cars, and allows for any number of stories to take place, and also allows the creators an opportunity to play with genre in a whole new way. Maybe we will get a Cars version of a comic book movie, or a science fiction thriller. The possibilities are now endless.