Movie Reviews: Cyrus (2010)

When I went to the movies last weekend my friend and I were trying to decide between Get Him to the Greek and Cyrus. Either way, Jonah Hill was going to make some money. We ultimately decided on Cyrus because I’d choose John C. Reilly over that mop-haired British dude any day of the week. Unless Get Him to the Greek turns out to be the comedic equivalent of The Deer Hunter I’m pretty sure we made the astute choice.

In Cyrus John C. Reilly plays John (quite a stretch I know), a divorcee spiralling further and further into depression. Things only seem to be getting worse for him and in the opening scene of the movie he finds out that his ex-wife, played by Catherine Keener, is getting remarried. She worries about him and convinces him to come to a house party.

After numerous failed flirtations and too much booze he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei). Their first interaction is preceded by what is probably the greatest icebreaker I’ve ever heard. I won’t spoil it for you here. Anyways, they hit it off immediately and things appear to be looking up, but John can tell that she’s distancing herself.

We soon find out why: she still lives with her adult son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). This has got to be one of the most uncomfortable onscreen mother-son relationships I have ever seen. I found the Bates family less off putting at certain points. Molly and Cyrus put up a front, but it is obvious that they are unhealthily attached to one another. John wants to believe that Cyrus is as welcoming as he first appears, but as things progress his suspicions grow.

None of this is news, as the trailer will pretty much give you all of this information, but the overall tone of this movie is what surprised me. I suppose it is technically a comedy and, for sure, there are laughs, but it’s the kind of laughter that one uses to cover an awkward moment. Cyrus is measured and methodical – it doesn’t rush from one comedic payoff to the next – and it is a better movie for it. Cyrus isn’t an easy movie and it disregards cheap gags in favour of genuine contemplation. This is one of those movies that you actually have to pay attention to because much of the dialogue isn’t spoken, but is communicated by the subtle nuances of the characters’ expressions.

The characters are what really makes this movie. They are all three dimensional and we can sympathize with them and understand their motivations even when they are behaving badly. John is lonely and does his best to naively ignore Cyrus’s obvious hostility because this is the first time John’s had any semblance of hope since his divorce; Molly desperately wants to reciprocate John’s affection but we can sense that she is hesitant because, as we can infer, her son’s reliance on her has ruined more than one relationship; Jamie and Tim, John’s ex-wife and her fiancé, genuinely care about John but are burdened by his emotional neediness; and, finally, Cyrus has, through no fault of his own, never learned to be independent from his equally clingy mother and is terrified at the prospect of losing what is basically the only person in his life.

Marisa Tomei is as good as ever, but I really have to commend John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill for their performances here. For whatever reason, many comedians really shine when portraying characters who are deeply wounded: Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town, Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction come to mind. Reilly and Hill certainly fit that mould.

It doesn’t take much thought or talent to make someone laugh by, say, getting kicked in the testicles, but perhaps the reason these actors have been able to excel in more dramatic roles is because the ability to make somebody truly laugh may be contingent on a deep-rooted understanding of the human condition. I suppose there’s a reason why it’s often the case that the only way to deal with a genuinely difficult situation is to laugh about it.

And, of course, the best line: "Don't fuck my mom."