does IMDB let me hotlink?I'd rather be watching TV![IMDB link] Carolyn & I are both big Arrested Development fans, and love the character G.O.B., played by Will Arnett. When we saw Janeane Garofalo at the Arlington Drafthouse, she made sure to emphasize that she thought Will Arnett was one of the funniest people right now, and that he was responsible for her back injury — from falling over laughing. Thus, we decided to get some Will Arnett movies. This is movie 1 of 3 for our Will Arnett Theme Week, which consists of The Solomon Brothers, Let’s Go To Prison, and Blades Of Glory. We are watching them in order of IMDB rating (lowest-to-highest; this movie received 5.0/10 on IMDB.)

PEOPLE: Bob Odenkirk directed this, and we are big fans of his comic sensibility (Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; Tom Goes To The Mayor; Mr. Show). This was an added bonus to the whole Will Arnett angle that got us here in the first place. It was written by Will Forte (who voiced Abe Lincoln in Clone High, and can be seein in various Tim And Eric shows), and also starred Kristin Wiig (Knocked Up). It also had a bit part played by Jenna Fischer (Pam from The Office), who has been popping up in movies that we watch a lot lately (both her and Kristin Wiig were also in Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story).

BAD STUFF: The movie is not at all realistic. It’s a comedy. It’s not a romantic comedy, though there is pointless a romantic sub-plot that is basically an excuse to get Swedish beauty Malik Akerman on the camera for a bit. It’s about having a baby — and Carolyn & I hate babies and children. I think I originally passed this up when I ran into the Netflix page many months ago, because the idea of two men trying to have a baby was not at all appealing to me — I had enough of that with My Two Dads. Fortunately, when I looked at the names involved, I changed my mind.

CONCLUSION: I never would have thought to make the comparison, but Carolyn pointed it out to me: This was waaay better than Knocked Up. This was a hilarious comedy!! Knocked Up was amazingly funny during the first half, but basically declined into a romance movie that could barely even be called a romantic comedy. The 5 of us in the room for Knocked Up (Us + Mark I, John The Canadien, Evan) were all disappointed. Suffice to say that with The Brothers Solomon, I came in with lower expecations, and they were again surpassed. The two main characters are two brothers who live together (and are mistaken as a gay couple at least once). They were home-schooled at the north pole after their mother died. In other words, they are incredibly and completely out-of-touch with reality — much like G.O.B. in Arrested Development. They act like total spazzes, and there are a few VERY VERY DARK jokes in the movie. I wont go into it, but me & Carolyn laughed out loud many times, at least once to the point of having to rewind because we couldn’t stop.

In other words, it’s hard to put words into what makes this so funny — but it is mostly the ridiculous acting, and ridiculous situations. Even the opening hospital scene is quite dark in the humor — [highlight for spoilers]→ They get a call from their dad at the hospital, but on their way contest a late fee at the video store. When they get there, the doctor says they missed their father going into a coma by 10 minutes. The doctor then keeps gradually revising the number downwards, until we reach 4 minutes, where there is zero doubt left that the reason they missed their dad’s final moments of consciousness was because they went to the video store on the way. “Dad would have wanted us to contest those late fees!” Suffice to say that most of the humor isn’t dark, it’s out there, in-your-face, ridiculous-acting by clueless characters — These guys easily could have been the protagonists of Dumb And Dumber, except that in this movie, they are looking for a baby instead of for romance.

MOVIE QUOTE: “I think we maybe need to broaden our search to include less conventional methods of having a baby.” “Like anal?”

Mood: hungry, confused
Music: Ministry – Effigy (I’m Not An)