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So far, by my count, there have been approximately 4,500 movies about pregnant women this year. Some (like Waitress) were cute and quirky. Others (like Knocked Up) were silly and fun. And most of them are humorous and even heartwarming. But director Bob Odenkirk was apparently sick of humorous and heartwarming movies about pregnancy—so he decided to make one that isn’t funny at all. Too bad the studio’s marketing it as a comedy.
The Brothers Solomon stars Will Arnett and Will Forte as brothers John and Dean Solomon—two guys who live together, work together, and share a positive outlook on absolutely everything.
When they were kids, John and Dean’s mother died, and their thoughtful and loving father moved them to the North Pole, where he did everything he could to give them the best life that the Arctic had to offer. But now their dad is dying. Just before he slipped into a coma, though, he told his doctor that his only regret was that he wouldn’t live long enough to see his first grandchild. So, determined to give their dad his wish, John and Dean race out to make him a grandchild.
The problem, however, is that John and Dean are about as socially adept as you would expect two guys who were home schooled in the Arctic to be. So after a few failed attempts at doing it the old-fashioned way, they turn to Craigslist, where they finally find Janine (Kristen Wiig), a willing babymama who needs the cash.
The Brothers Solomon isn’t really a movie as much as it’s a bunch of really lame jokes taken way too far and then strung together for an hour and a half. Odenkirk clearly subscribes to the belief that if it’s funny once, it’ll be absolutely hilarious if you do it ten times. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way things usually work—though it might have helped if the jokes were actually funny the first time. Instead, they start out painful and get gradually more agonizing as time passes (a little bit like thumbscrews), until they break you down and make you beg for mercy (and perhaps a quick, painless death).
I’ll admit that there were a couple of moments when I was caught off-guard by an actual laugh or two (most of which were delivered by Chi McBride, who plays Janine’s ex-boyfriend, James). But it was just way too little, much too late. You’d need much more than few moderately funny jokes to make up for the irritating characters, the non-existent story, and the constant procession of overdone gags.
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