The Brothers Solomon (2007)
Jun 25, 2016 2:09:41 GMT -5
King Charles’s Butterfly and repulsionist like this
Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Jun 25, 2016 2:09:41 GMT -5
The Brothers Solomon
Dir. Bob Odenkirk
Premiered September 7, 2007
Despite his recent fame for playing Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk has been a comedic stalwart, writing for Saturday Night Live in his 20s, making his onscreen debut on the frustratingly overlooked The Ben Stiller Show, and costarring with David Cross on the underground-conquering Mr. Show.
Strangely, Odenirk’s talents have not extended to the director’s seat. Beginning with the slight but enjoyable indie theater adaptation Melvin Goes to Dinner, Odenkirk’s directorial efforts have been strictly limited to poorly thought-out comedies such as today’s entry in the canon of the great year 2007, The Brothers Solomon.
Although it has its defenders, The Brothers Solomon was overwhelmingly rejected by critics, earning a 15% fresh Rating on RottenTomatoes (for comparison, Georgia Rule got 17%). In what he described as a first, critic Richard Roeper found the film so awful as to walk out of the theater. I don’t know what movie he watched, because this is far from the worst film I’ve reviewed for this project.
Which isn’t to say it’s good...
Raised alone in the Arctic by an overindulgent single father of seemingly infinite wealth, brothers John and Dean Solomon (Will Arnett and Will Forte, respectively) are relentlessly positive, socially inept, and perennially oblivious. When their beloved father (Lee Majors) goes into a coma, the two strangely decide that having a grandson will bring him back to consciousness. To that end, they acquire the services of a surrogate (Kristen Wiig) over the objections of her high-strung but well-meaning boyfriend (Chi McBride).
The first fifteen minutes of the film are genuinely great; John and Dean constantly egging each other on with their weird, hyper-innocent thought process. It reminded me a lot of Dumb and Dumber, though it must be said that Forte was much more likable than the relentlessly sleazy Arnett– who spends most of the movie creeping on their neighbor (Malin Åkerman). I realize that’s a deliberate character choice, but it doesn’t complement the film’s style of humor, which runs thin very quickly.
After the first act, the plot moves along of its own volition, with the jokes falling completely flat in such a way as to suggest Screenwriter Will Forte is trying to capture the magic of his own first few pages. The Brothers Solomon isn’t remotely as bad as they’d have you believe, but there’s still no reason to seek it out.
Sign This Was Made in 2007
During the last funny gag in the movie, Dean explains what Craigslist is.
Additional Notes
Dir. Bob Odenkirk
Premiered September 7, 2007
Despite his recent fame for playing Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk has been a comedic stalwart, writing for Saturday Night Live in his 20s, making his onscreen debut on the frustratingly overlooked The Ben Stiller Show, and costarring with David Cross on the underground-conquering Mr. Show.
Strangely, Odenirk’s talents have not extended to the director’s seat. Beginning with the slight but enjoyable indie theater adaptation Melvin Goes to Dinner, Odenkirk’s directorial efforts have been strictly limited to poorly thought-out comedies such as today’s entry in the canon of the great year 2007, The Brothers Solomon.
Although it has its defenders, The Brothers Solomon was overwhelmingly rejected by critics, earning a 15% fresh Rating on RottenTomatoes (for comparison, Georgia Rule got 17%). In what he described as a first, critic Richard Roeper found the film so awful as to walk out of the theater. I don’t know what movie he watched, because this is far from the worst film I’ve reviewed for this project.
Which isn’t to say it’s good...
Raised alone in the Arctic by an overindulgent single father of seemingly infinite wealth, brothers John and Dean Solomon (Will Arnett and Will Forte, respectively) are relentlessly positive, socially inept, and perennially oblivious. When their beloved father (Lee Majors) goes into a coma, the two strangely decide that having a grandson will bring him back to consciousness. To that end, they acquire the services of a surrogate (Kristen Wiig) over the objections of her high-strung but well-meaning boyfriend (Chi McBride).
The first fifteen minutes of the film are genuinely great; John and Dean constantly egging each other on with their weird, hyper-innocent thought process. It reminded me a lot of Dumb and Dumber, though it must be said that Forte was much more likable than the relentlessly sleazy Arnett– who spends most of the movie creeping on their neighbor (Malin Åkerman). I realize that’s a deliberate character choice, but it doesn’t complement the film’s style of humor, which runs thin very quickly.
After the first act, the plot moves along of its own volition, with the jokes falling completely flat in such a way as to suggest Screenwriter Will Forte is trying to capture the magic of his own first few pages. The Brothers Solomon isn’t remotely as bad as they’d have you believe, but there’s still no reason to seek it out.
Sign This Was Made in 2007
During the last funny gag in the movie, Dean explains what Craigslist is.
Additional Notes
- What does The Brothers Solomon have in common with Bratz? Both feature opening credits in Comic Sans. Here, however, it’s a deliberately stupid choice, rather than the act of editors pandering to a kiddie film they wrongly but understandably assume will never see the light of day.
- The Solomons’ home at the North Pole is depicted as being on land (wrong) at 0º latitude by 0º longitude (double wrong).
- Chi McBride’s character initially accuses the Solomons of being racist for assuming he’s a janitor (which he is) because of his uniform, and being surprised at the niceness of his neighborhood (because he’s a janitor). If the film had kept going with this gag, it’d work, but as it stands, it’s taken too far to be funny on its own, but not taken far enough to be entertainingly absurd.
- Minnie on this film: “That was a movie.”
Next Time: Shoot 'Em Up
Preemptive Sign That Trailer Was Put Together in 2007: The combination of halftone and ink splatter. Easily one of the best design elements of the 2000s.