Cyrus: Three’s a crowd in this offbeat, romantic comedy
Cyrus, featuring John C. Reilley, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei.
“Seriously, don’t fuck my mom,” Cyrus said, half-jokingly, to his mother’s new love interest over dinner. Cyrus, which just opened last weekend, is not your typical romantic comedy. It’s a refreshingly original film about a 22 year old with quite an Oedipus complex.
Obese Cyrus (Jonah Hill) and his striking mother Molly (Marisa Tomei) are very close. They live together. They spend mornings together taking photos. When Cyrus has a “night terror,” Molly, is there to cradle him as he goes back to sleep.
So it is not altogether surprising that Cyrus has an issue when Molly gets a boyfriend, John. Cyrus makes it his mission to get John (John C. Reilly) out of the picture and ruin his life. John tries desperately to maintain his relationship with Molly and declares war with Cyrus: “Listen you little weirdo…if you’re going to mess with me, I’m going to mess with you right back,” he threatens, all while pretending to be a father figure.
Recently divorced John, who describes himself as “Shrek in the forest” (I have to admit, he has some Shrek-esque features) meets Molly at a party. “YOU are flirting with ME?” he asks Molly, bewilderedly. The audience is similarly surprised.
Cyrus and his mother are an affectionate pair.
What attracts Molly to John is how candid he is about his wants, needs and feelings. Similarly, what is so refreshing about this comedy is how human these characters are – how outright desperate they are in some cases (“I have so much to GIVE!!,” John pleads woefully to a woman on a couch at a party. She quickly leaves).
Even the scheming Cyrus, after all, is just having a hard time growing up – to say the least. “He’s very mature, but he’s not come into himself yet,” Molly maintains to John. This love triangle makes for a hilarious, psychological comedy. The packed theatre on West 42nd street clearly enjoyed the film as much as I did.
