Storyline
The rivalry between two brothers reaches a fever pitch during a charity swim competition.
Cast: Jenny Slate -
Rose
Adam Scott -
Robbie
Zoe Kazan -
Francie
Nick Kroll -
Bill
Talia Tabin -
Micia
Heidi Lewandowski -
Clarese Singer
Peach Martine -
Teen Girl
Charlie Hewson -
GT
Yassie Hawkes -
Propel Water Girl
Ryan Phoenix -
Supporter
(as Ryan Kearney)
Connie Kincer -
Check Girl
Conner McVicker -
Boy With Stim
Kellen Boyle -
Funeral Guest #1
Maryanne Nagel -
Jane
Sofia Plass -
Beach Goer
Taglines:
Romantically Challenged
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 3 Jan 2016
Filming Locations: Ohio, USA
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Part of this film was made in Lakewood, Ohio. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
"I'm a superficial narcissist" "I'm lazy and judgmental."
This is how the two romantic leads in "My Blind Brother" introduce
themselves to each other, and I fell in love with them both
immediately.
Then, when they both reveal that they perversely wish they could be
invalids so they'd have an excuse to lay in bed all day and watch TV, I
fell in love with screenwriter Sophie Goodhart. Add in a blind guy,
jaded and bored with his own infirmity, who is smoking weed unabashedly
in public, even with the police nearby, who says, "I could shoot up in
front of cops and they wouldn't do anything," and I love this movie in
full. It manages to be morbidly dark, joyfully funny and
unsentimentally touching all at the same time.
The storyline itself is genuinely fresh; unlike so many other films at
this festival, I can't think of another previous movie to compare it
to. Robbie (Adam Scott) is a champion blind athlete and local
philanthropic hero doted on by the community (and his parents) and
seemingly incapable of wrongdoing. His apparently well-earned egotism
is fed by his frequent, televised crusades to rise above his
"disability" while also raising money for charity, where after each
successful feat, he is surrounded by gushing reporters who never seem
to notice that he tells the same, lame joke every time: "You look
beautiful today," Robbie the blind guy tells every female member of the
press.
Robbie's hapless, unassuming brother Bill (Nick Kroll) knows the real
Robbie to be arrogant, selfish and rude, but he still guide-dog-
faithfully runs every marathon by Robbie's side and never makes a peep
when he doesn't receive any accolades, or when even his own parents
continually criticize him. One night, Bill escapes the relentless
Robbie- worship by hitting up the local bar, where despite his best
efforts to present himself as unworthy and unappealing, he gets lucky
with an attractive and like-hearted woman named Rose (Jenny Slate).
Bill is guilt-ridden because Robbie's blindness was the result of a
childhood accident in which he was involved. Rose is a guilt-ridden
because immediately after she told her fiancé she wanted to break up
with him, he distractedly crossed the street and was hit and killed by
a bus.
After one pitiful, anti-romantic (yet soul-soaring) night together,
Rose flees without leaving her phone number. Nonetheless, Bill thinks
his karma might finally be coming around and that he's found his
sad-sack love-match. But his fantasy is soon squashed when his brother
introduces him to his own new paramour – the very same Rose, who
(without knowing he is Bill's brother) has started dating blind Robbie
in an attempt to make herself a better person. Now Bill must decide if
he will put himself second again or finally stand up to his blind
brother.
Kudos to writer/director Sophie Goodhart for opting against a "when bad
things happen to good people" script and instead going with "when good
things happen to bad people." Goodhart's two, guilty, self-loathing
characters are amazingly charming and lovable. Robbie makes a
wonderfully heroic antagonist, whose capability and determination we
slowly come to dislike more and more as the story unfolds. (The fact
that actor Adam Scott looks quite a bit like a smugly smiling Tom
Cruise doesn't hurt.) And Goodhart's ingenious twist on the
conventional love-triangle takes the sentimental weight out of the
usual wet blanket that hangs over traditional romantic comedies. This
movie is bright and buoyant and makes us laugh at ourselves more than
at mere jokes.
Goodhart's head-on attacks of our socially-correct attitudes toward
both the physically handicapped and noble self-sacrifice are deftly
executed dark humor that captures what's funny about resentment,
bitterness, and condescension. Her sharp jabs at "those less fortunate"
never feel like bullying and never fall into rude buffoonery. Even as
the movie escalates into full-blown wackiness, it still maintains its
shrewd edge.
Another strength to this film are the secondary characters. Rose's
prissy, eye-rolling, sarcastically unsympathetic roommate (Zoe Kazan)
ends up with the stoner blind guy. Ha! It's just another delightful
quirk in this defiant film where apathy and under-achievement are
treated as virtues and perfection is the problem to be overcome.
Finally: a romantic comedy with mutually flawed lovers, where no
sacrifice or self- improvement is necessary for them to win happiness
and each other.
Just be fair, I will say that there are a few small spots where the
script veers into impossible interactions – stupid things that could or
would never actually be said. These mini-moments wouldn't stand out so
much if all the other moments in the script were not so true and all
the other lines were not so witty. I am not usually a great lover of
comedies, and the fact that I am calling this film One of the Best of
Tribeca 2016 means it is truly something special.
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