Movie Review for The Brothers Solomon (2007)

---

Click Poster to Purchase

---

Review #524 of 365
Movie Review of The Brothers Solomon (2007) [R] 91 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $4.50
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 12 September 2007
Time: 5:20 pm
DVD Release Date: 26 December 2007 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

Soundtrack: Download now from - or - order the CD below

Directed by: Bob Odenkirk (Let's Go to Prison)
Written by : Will Forte (Parental Guidance Suggested )

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Will Arnett (Hot Rod) • Will Forte (Beerfest) • Chi McBride (Let's Go to Prison) • Kristen Wiig (Knocked Up) • Malin Akerman (Heavy Petting) • Lee Majors ("The Six Million Dollar Man")

---

Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]

---

Click to read the spoiler points for The Brothers Solomon

---

Much like Director Bob Odenkirk's last film, Let's Go to Prison, The Brothers Solomon is a very, very oddball film. The story is odd. The acting and directing are odd. The interactions and habits of the characters are extremely odd. If you find odd things funny, then you will probably find the film extremely funny. Everyone else who uses the word 'funny' then to describe it would probably be meaning the word 'funny' in the sense of it 'smells funny'.

To start things off on the odd foot, the film begins with an opening credit sequence with giant head shots of the film's two stars and main characters, Will Arnett and Will Forte, in front of a green screen with increasingly odd and funny looks on their faces with their eyes rolling over to look at the credits as if to say, "Wow, I've never even heard of that person, and I was in this film."

---

"… extensions of an inside joke that these obviously talented and creative persons concocted to amuse themselves, but to which the rest of us will never quite fully relate."

---

It only gets more peculiar from there as the story unfolds. Two PhD brothers are seeking mates on the Internet. They have no luck at all with women, mostly because, frankly, either they come across as unintentionally lecherous or naively inconsiderate. For example, Dean (Will Forte), goes out on a date with a young woman that seems promising until he smooches her father on the cheek rather than simply shaking his hand like, well, a more seasoned individual. The time clock begins to run wild on them, however, when they learn that their beloved father, Ed (Lee Majors), has fallen into a deep coma with his only chance of recovery hinging on them getting him a grandchild and fast to fulfill his final life's wish. Well, the Brothers Solomon turn to Craig's List to find a person to be the surrogate mother of their baby after messing up on finding potential mates the old-fashioned way and being turned down at the adoption agency. A nice woman named Janine (Kristen Wiig) comes forward and is willing to do the deed for $12K. John Solomon (Will Arnett) tries to bargain her down to $25, but she's not willing to budge. The only problem with Janine is that she has an overly possessive boyfriend, James (Chi McBride) whom both John and Dean fear will beat the living daylights out of them. At the sperm bank, it turns out that John's sperm lacks motility, so Dean's sperm is used in the artificial insemination. Back at their apartment, John and Dean have brought their father home along with an emergency room full of equipment to keep him alive. This turns out to be a good thing for all of them, except when they try to run too many electrical appliances at the same time and blow the fuse, silencing his life support machines and potentially causing him to die. Fortunately, to assist in his care, their neighbor, Tara (Malin Akerman) just happens to be in nursing school and has to watch over a person in critical condition for 3 months. As Janine progresses through each trimester, the brothers are pushed by her to learn how to become better fathers before she's going to be willing to give them the baby. This eventually causes the brothers to bond, the brothers to bond with Janine and James, and for the emergence of one big happy family. (See the spoiler for remaining details)

Much like Let's Go to Prison, The Brothers Solomon is a difficult film to enjoy. The lines between humor and discomfort are too thin. Some of the choices for satire are too icky to be considered irreverent or too over blown to be consistently funny. For example of each qualm:

icky:
After being told they need to spend time with and get to know children, they decide to stake out a playground and lure little kids into their car for ice cream. They end up getting arrested.

Over Blown:
In order to track down a missing person, John and Dean decide to hire a sky banner. The banner ends up being longer than War and Peace and filled with non-essentials that carry this sketch and concept on way too long.

Will Forte has written and developed some funny characters, but they are the kind of characters that work well in running sketches over a few seasons of "SNL" and not as well in a feature film where their gags and personas become annoying after an extended, focused, period of exposure with a captive audience. Likewise for the situations he's created in this comedy. There's no doubt that the performances by Mr. Arnett and Forte are also funny—in a somewhat smug way. It's hard not to laugh, but is this a laughing with them or at them? In other words, is it laughter at how awfully odd the whole experience is or because it is truly funny? Honestly, it's difficult to say. Ultimately, the film stands out in the comedy world where movies continue to be made as if they only need to be funny or matter to the people that write, direct, and act in them. They are extensions of an inside joke that these obviously talented and creative persons concocted to amuse themselves, but to which the rest of us will never quite fully relate. This might be ok, if they didn't expect us to pay to watch their stuff. Without wanting to be too mean, really this is the kind of film that should forget cinemas, forget DVDs, and go straight to YouTube™. Then if people really like it, they can earn a living off content-related ad clicks.

---

Send This Review To a Friend

---

Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006 | Films of 2007

---

Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]

---

Related Products from Amazon.com

---

Other Projects Featuring The Brothers Solomon (2007)
Cast Members
Will Arnett • Will Forte • Chi McBride
Kristen Wiig • Malin Akerman • Lee Majors
Director
Bob Odenkirk
Writer
Will Forte

CD Soundtrack	DVD	VHS

---

Review-lite The Brothers Solomon (2007) [max of 150 words]

---

Despite some amusing parts, The Brother Solomon featuring Will Arnett and Will Forte directed by Bob Odenkirk serves more as an extensions of an inside joke that these obviously talented and creative persons concocted to amuse themselves, but to which the rest of us will never quite fully relate. With gags that run too long, and an incredibly odd set of characters and circumstances, the film should have been slated to bypass cinemas and DVDs heading straight to YouTube™ where revenue could have been made off content-targeted ad clicks.

---

Send This Review To a Friend