Cyrus

Impressions before seeing it
Another indie comedy that went very quietly under the radar, but aside from the cast the reason I wanted to see it was because it made Quentin Tarantino's list of his favourite movies of 2010, intriguing because it was the only "best of 2010" list I saw it on.

How was it?
I've watched a few indie comedies in the last several weeks (there's at least one more coming), so I don't want to go into the whole "it was more dramatic than I was expecting" thing again, but there is that, and it's not a complaint.

The most notable thing, first of all, is how different a role this is for Jonah Hill. He's already almost been typecast as the loudmouthed wise-ass, but as the title character here, he is like a brooding, passive-aggressive supervillain. It's actually a layered and seamless dramatic turn. Cyrus and his mother (Tomei) have a relationship that is creepily close and makes one almost suspicious of incest, but it became apparent to me that this was necessary for the entire premise of the film and Cyrus' character to work. Cyrus is a lonely and pathetic kid. His mom is literally his only friend, so any and all love that he has to give as a human being can pretty much only go towards her (and from what I gathered, the same is just about true for her). Enter John (Reilly) to threaten all of this by dating his mom. If Cyrus were a normal guy, he might be a little peeved but anything more would feel excessive. Seeing as he is not, I can buy that he would become so antagonistic and aggressive in clinging to his only source of love in the world.

The fun of this movie is in the war between Cyrus and John. A lot of it is done in subtext, because neither one wants to alert the mother to his darker side by letting her see that they're fighting, so there are things like passive-aggressive pleasantries, backhanded comments, and hidden agendas in her presence. It reminded me of the kind of interactions you might see on Dexter towards the end of a season when his major target is on to him and they're both trying to get each other. John C. Reilly is one of my favourite actors, so throwing him up against a surprisingly good Jonah Hill in a battle of wits equals a good time for me, though I do have to say that it was kind of predictable. According to the blu-ray extras, they shot this movie in order so that the actors could improvise and change the plot if necessary, and that places a lot more value on the performances, which are what make Cyrus worth watching anyway.

Recommendation
I can't recommend it as a comedy, but as a drama the characters make it interesting. While the concept is simple, I can't really think of too many movies that use it, or at least not in the same way, so I suppose it can be called original as well.