“Our Idiot Brother” is a rare example of a film that manages to reject the gimmicky path of least resistance the best comedies often take. Like the high fructose corn syrup in a complex and satisfying barbecue sauce, even a momentary reliance on ultimately contextless feces hurling can cheapen intelligent movies (that don’t otherwise milk some level of campy appeal). And R-rated comedies that effortlessly maintain an intoxicating light-heartedness while achieving an equal or greater level of paradoxically dramatic substance are a rarity indeed.
    
Ned (Paul Rudd) is too unassuming and nice to properly function in society. He lacks that critical human ability to calculate his chances of success and failure, deceive, or suspect ulterior motives. The stage is abruptly set when Ned, a bio-dynamics farmer who could easily be mistaken for hippie Jesus, is successfully manipulated into voluntarily selling marijuana to a police officer who claims he just wants to take the edge off of a hard week.
    
The plot kicks off when he gets out of jail a few months later (waving cheerily good-bye to the prison guards) and is dropped off at his shared farm to awkwardly find his life and livelihood with his girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) of three years unceremoniously thrown away and usurped by another dude, with no regards for Ned’s fate. He all but apologizes for the situation, which ends up with his ex declaring arbitrary custody of his one constant companion, Willy Nelson (his dog), and being thrust once more into the unforgiving world outside his farm. Though one of the movie’s more obtuse scenes, Rudd’s character is so perfectly oblivious to the most ridiculous attempts at guile that it ends up being a pretty hilarious female power trip.
    
Ned needs cash, so he goes back to Long Island to commit that ultimate cultural sin of having to rely on your family. The first scene at the dinner table with Ned and his family of mother and sisters develops rapidly from the polite acceptance of family to the affirmed realization that Ned’s sisters think he’s a shambling clod. After an open invitation from the sister that is at the 40-something, married and kids archetypal point in her life to stay at her place, this dynamic unfolds to its breaking point as he’s taken in and passed along.
    
Is Ned an idiot? Playing your cards close is a de facto cultural necessity, even though contextless honesty and openness is always good and deception is always bad. The awesome consistency of Rudd’s performance for this indirectly-culturally-upsetting character is to be applauded, because the subtle hilarity of every scenario depends on being filtered through him. And when truth inevitably ruptures the foundation of the relationships the characters have with each other, it slowly becomes apparent that Ned has actually improved the quality of everyone’s life by a good margin.
    
Especially compared to the prevailing summer movie of late, “Our Idiot Brother” derives all of its deep humor from the timing and subtlety of a drama while still having the light-heartedness, energy and near improvisational acting tone. It altogether avoids and is so much more satisfying than the sexually improbable situation comedy (any Michael Cera movie, bless him) that is stifling the art.