What’s on DVD Tuesday, November 29, 2011?
Our Idiot Brother
Paul Rudd stars in this witty and highly relatable comedy about that one family member who is always just a little bit behind the curve. For sisters Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), and Liz (Emily Mortimer) that person is their upbeat brother Ned, an organic farmer whose willingness to rely on honesty and trusting of humankind allows for a trouble-free existence. Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Emily and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother’s unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines. – Amazon | Purchase a copy on Amazon.
30 Minutes or Less
Rambunctious and unpredictable, action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less manages to be simultaneously cynical and softhearted, which is quite a trick. A disgruntled pizza delivery guy named Nick (The Social Network‘s Jesse Eisenberg) gets his life hijacked by two dimwitted yet canny thugs (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson), who need $100,000 to hire a hit man–so they strap a bomb to Nick and order him to rob a bank. So many little twists and turns follow that it would ruin the fun to describe the plot any further; suffice it to say that 30 Minutes or Less takes a high-concept idea and grounds it in well-written characters, an outstanding cast, and some brutally funny bits. But what really makes 30 Minutes or Less so sympathetic is not the buddy relationship between Nick and his best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari from Parks and Recreation), though that’s thoroughly enjoyable–it’s the buddy relationship between the two would-be hoodlums that holds the movie’s heart. –Bret Fetzer | Purchase a copy on Amazon.
One Day
After one day together – July 15th, 1988, their college graduation – Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) begin a friendship that lasts a lifetime. She’s a working-class girl who dreams of making the world a better place. He’s a wealthy charmer who thinks the world is his playground. Somewhere over the next two decades, these two very different people realize that the love they’ve been hoping for has been there for them all along. Directed by Lone Scherfig (An Education) and based on the bestselling novel by David Nicholls, it’s a touching story critics call “a smart and endearing romantic comedy.” (US Weekly) | Purchase a copy on Amazon.