MOVIE REVIEWS: “CYRUS”

Cyrus, starring Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly, which played to packed houses and much applause when it opened in a handful of cities last weekend, is attracting much critical praise as it widens its release this weekend. All three actors receive accolades, especially Jonah Hill in the title role. In the movie, Manohla Dargis writes in the New York Times, “Hill enters with a polite smile that is likely to send a chill straight up your neck, leaving your little hairs aflutter. … He looks like the kind of guy who has been setting fire to the neighborhood cats, the one everyone says seemed so nice after the cops dig up the bodies.” Lou Lumenick in the New York Post compliments all three actors for delivering “wonderfully satisfying, full-blooded performances.” While quibbling about the execution of the story, he nevertheless concludes, “Flaws aside, Cyrus is still one of the very few mainstream movies out there with any ambition, and you have to respect that.” Claudia Puig in USA Today has no complaints about the plot. She writes: “What makes this dark comedy work so well is the way in which directors Jay and Mark Duplass build an original story on a broad, even farcical, foundation and leaven it with nuance. It’s an edgy, engrossing comedy with an art-house sensibility and mainstream appeal.” And Peter Howell in the Toronto Star credits the Duplass Bros. for finding “humor and a lot of truth in those moments between spoken words, when the flick of an eyelid, the pulse of a vein or the purse of the lips can betray things that might otherwise not be stated.” And Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune suggests that the brothers have successfully amalgamated style and substance. “Cyrus amuses and unnerves in equal measure, he writes, “A comedy of discomfort that walks a wonderful line between reality-based emotional honesty and engaging humor, it demonstrates the good things that happen when quirky independent style combines with top-of-the-line acting skill.”