This story about a pair of 30-something out-of-shape brothers competing in 25 events of their own choosing had us laughing through most of it. Directed and written by siblings Jay and Mark Duplass (last mentioned in Jeff, Who Lives at Home), it's funny and raw. Jack said, "Maybe soon we'll see a movie that didn't involve Mark Duplass," since this makes five in two months.
Starring Steve Zissis (small roles in Jeff, Who Lives at Home and the Duplass brothers' feature before that, Cyrus) as Mark and Mark Kelly (some things I haven't seen and four episodes in four seasons of Mad Men, but you wouldn't recognize him--compare this photo to the next two in the slideshow) as Jeremy, they are a most unlikely pair of jocks sprinting, swimming, shooting baskets, playing pool, and more. But their determined grimaces are priceless. We also liked newcomer Reid Williams, who plays Mark's 10-year-old son (with hair down to the middle of his back), Jennifer Lafleur (small parts in the Duplass brothers Baghead (2008) and Jeff, Who Lives at Home) as Mark's wife, and Julie Vorus (a lot of community theatre, no other movies) as Mark's and Jeremy's mother. The women's characters aren't fully developed but I never said it was a masterpiece--critics average 75% although audiences 85% on rottentomatoes. An article written when the movie played at the South by Southwest festival says that this was shot before Cyrus (released in 2010) and edited after Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011). Another article tells us that this one was released as video on demand (VOD), including iTunes and amazon, ten days before it hit big screens.
If you do see it on a big screen, it's a mild MPMS inducer (though not nearly as much so as Beasts of the Southern Wild) with some jerky camera movements, so take a seat in the back. I can think of a lot of people who will enjoy this lightweight competition. Maybe you're one of them.
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