Review of Cyrus

Mumblecore picture about a divorced and lonely 40-something man (John C. Reilly, my hero) who finally lands a new girlfriend in Marisa Tomei. Yeah, there has to be something really wrong with Tomei to fall for a guy like Reilly, and that wrongness comes in the form of her 21 year-old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) and the way-too-close relationship the two have. Indeed, Tomei has been a single mother all Cyrus' life and hasn't had a date since presumably Cyrus' father knocked her up. At first, despite the semi-sexualness of the mother/son relationship, Cyrus doesn't seem like too bad a person. He's friendly and inviting. But it is soon obvious he's harboring a gigantic grudge against his mother's new man and secretly working to destroy the new relationship. The latter part of the film, with the war between the two men, is less interesting than the actual mother/son relationship, or the sweet-natured new boyfriend/girlfriend relationship which is kindling (the film is actually pretty romantic at times). I really wanted to know more about Cyrus and his mother, though, exactly how they got that way. The relationship seemed very odd, but as it moved on, it just felt more like a normal son jealous of a mother's relationship. That may be a little Freudian, but it's not that odd. I honestly think, of the three main performers, Jonah Hill gives the best performance. Tomei doesn't have much to do and Reilly performs at his usual high level. Catherine Keener also has a major role as Reilly's ex-wife, with whom he is still friends.