The Brothers Solomon

Like other reviewers said, the opening titles of this movie will pretty much predict if you're going to like it or not.

My thoughts were, WTF was this? And indeed, that was my opinion of the movie after finishing it.

Two weird brothers look for a baby so that their dying father can see his grandson. Laughter ensues? Sometimes. They act like a washed-out crossover between "Dumb & Dumber" and the "Butabi" brothers (which, BTW I dearly missed here). John (Will Arnett)'s behavior, with women in particular, is either hilarious or annoying.

If the two main characters had been replaced with more 'suitable' (I don't want to say 'talented') comedians this movie would have been much better. The hollow script relies on physical gags and the brothers weird-but-supposedly-funny behavior. I really like Will Forte in SNL, and here he is bearable.

However, to do what Will Arnett attempted to do here, you need to have a funny face. Some actors have it and some don't - Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey come to mind. Arnett certainly doesn't, and comes across as a psychopath rather than a funny guy making a fool of himself. It's not funny - it's uncomfortable and embarrassing. If that was their objective, it worked.

This movie certainly has a style of its own, however. James provides some extra laughs, but I suspect most people will be turned-off by the dry nature of the humor here.

4/10

I usually don't write reviews for comedies, because they usually don't deserve one. These days, we know our actors and can say, "Yea, it's going to contain this sort of comedy, if I liked what he (or they) did last year, I will love this," and that isn't to put down comedies at all, they are made that way and they're hilarious (as most comedians usually write or co-write and produce their films these days). This film, which I never even heard whimpered or scoffed of anywhere, deserves a review, because I don't think many people paid it any mind.

The film was written by Forte (Dean Solomon), a recent SNL personality (I never watch it personally). I never knew his comedy style, but the two brothers, (John Solomon played by Arnett) both have symmetrical characters who play off each other as pretty much two men who were raised in a sheltered home and pretty much see everything in a very positive light.

Their own characters weren't even that annoying, as one might think, and I am easily annoyed by characters. They were straight forward guys who would ball-bust people with a smile on their face. The comedy is situational to them pretty much completing scenes with their personalities (playful 'burning' of each other with wise cracks or situations that happened to them and getting by spotty and racy situations by their pure ignorance to their offenses).

Simply put, if you like comedy, you will like this movie. It has a very good modern plot with a twist and two characters who are hilarious. If you liked Dumb and Dumber you should be reminded of the quaint quirky humor back in the 90's, with this new fresh look at situational comedy.

The plot also keeps moving, unlike some comedies that catch a snag. This movie is continuously in motion with pretty much trial and error scenes that are all a laugh.

If you find the opening credits funny, then you will love this wonderfully absurd film. Of course, if you're not in touch with your inner idiot, you will be bewildered and ask "Why is this funny?"

Like Charlie says in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory "candy doesn't have to have a point." This is a film that revels in its oddball stupidity.

Will Arnett is funny for me simply by his facial expressions and tone of voice (I often quote "Michael. Selfish, selfish Michael" in my head.) Will Forte (who also wrote) is adept at twisting audience's expectations, the two Solomon brothers completely unaware of their actions. Kirsten Wiig, a superb comedy actress, is in a relatively straighter role here, but still pulls it off well.

In short, if you want wit and sophistication, watch Robert Altman's The Player. If you want depth and moral ambiguity, watch Fight Club or A Clockwork Orange.

If you just want to amuse yourself laughing at idiots, this film will please no end.

This movie reminded me a lot of Dumb and Dumber. Two dumb brothers that have no luck with the ladies decide they need to have a child for their comatose father. They are annoying and quite disgusting at times. This movie was not laugh out loud funny, but was amusing at times. I really liked the airplane banner at the end. That was funny. In the beginning they buy women groceries in hopes of getting phone numbers. But no such luck. One of the brothers ask a woman to marry him on the first date. They just don't get the dating game. But of course think they are cool. There were many more silly things throughout the film.

FINAL VERDICT: This is for people who like all those silly Jim Carrey films. So check it out, if you fall in that category.

I rented this movie, not expecting all that much, although I am a big fan of Bob Odenkirk's work. But frankly, the whole family laughed their asses off, popcorn and dead bird definitely being a highlight, with the sky banner scene near the end being a close runner-up. This is pure comedy, close to Dumb and Dumber territory, but without the standard movie heist/love interest subplots that Hollywood puts into comedies like this to get "normal people" to watch them. This is the rare comedy that doesn't compromise on its mission, which accounts for the various "stupid" write-off reviews you'll see here in the user comments. This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it situations, and we're in the love-it camp. It's obviously not for everyone, and, I have to say, a lot of it was horribly lit, but if you're a fan of Mr. Show and St. Elmo's Fire, you might find this as hilarious as we did.