This is a comedy I’ve watched a couple of times that I’ve just always liked, mostly due to how bright and likable Paul Rudd is as a naive and sweet guy who keeps telling the truth, much to the frustrations of his family. He plays a laid-back organic farmer named Ned who does a stint in prison for selling weed to a uniformed cop (he’s incredibly trusting to his own fault), and after he gets back and his girlfriend has a new guy and kicks him out, he moves around crashing at his sisters’ homes while they deal with their own domestic and personal issues.
What’s funny about the movie is that while Ned is the titular idiot, he’s actually the wisest and nicest character, as his sisters are often small-minded, self-centered, or just unpleasant. The most sympathetic is Emily Mortimer’s character, a caring mom whose filmmaker husband is cheating on her, and who is sweet but naïve. This is in contrast to Elizabeth Banks’ journalist character, who is trying to dig dirt on a celebrity to make for a big paydirt profile, as well as being condescending to her friend who is her obvious romantic interest, or Zooey Deschanel’s artsy character, who is in a relationship with her girlfriend but has confused commitment issues.
The best relationship in this movie is with Ned and his golden retriever Willie Nelson, who he adores and is trying to get back since his ex-girlfriend insists on keeping him out of spite. Rudd’s happy face and higher voice whenever he’s with his dog is so sweet and endearing to watch, and there is a cute payoff at the end as to why his dog was named Willie Nelson.
This movie just came and went, and isn’t as remembered as Rudd’s other comedies, but it’s one of my favorites by him, and I thought I’d include it as a little bonus among the more critically acclaimed films on my list.
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