Review: My Blind Brother
The blind brother of the title is Robbie (Adam Scott), viewed as an inspirational figure and a local celebrity for performing various sports to raise money for charity. He's the first to tell you that he's appeared on television six times over the last four years, and pretty much succeeds in anything he sets out to do. He is also an absolute and total jerk.
He is brother and albatross to Bill (Nick Kroll), who secretly fantasises about being disabled so he could just do nothing but watch television all the live long day. Instead, not only does Bill have to live in the giant shadow cast by Robbie, but he also has to essentially function as Robbie's guide dog. The marathon that Robbie is seen running at the start of the film? Wouldn't have been accomplished so smoothly had he not been attached to his brother via a red ribbon. Robbie doesn't even have the decency to thank the huffing and puffing sad sack who ran beside him every step of the way.
Bill decides to drown his sorrows at a bar. With his luck, the bar turns out to be the location for a wake for a guy who died in an accident after just being dumped by his girlfriend, Rose (Jenny Slate). Rose is beset by guilt and wants to dedicate her life to charity so she decides not to pursue anything further with Bill after their drunken but enjoyable one night stand. The two are obviously destined to be together except that Rose accidentally becomes Robbie's girlfriend.
Though the set-up is prime for screwball zaniness, writer-director Sophie Goodhart, expanding on her 2003 short film, opts for a lighter and breezier approach that's tinged with more than a dash of dark melancholy. One feels for all sides of the triangle, even the often atrocious Robbie who confesses, "Being blind takes a lot of energy. Sometimes I don't have space for other people." There are many gags involving Robbie's blindness, but none are mean or at his expense. The best sequence may be Robbie walking in on Bill and Rose in flagrante delicto and carrying on a conversation as the lovers do their best to slip their clothes back on.
Kroll and Scott convincingly convey the brothers' complicated relationship whilst Zoe Kazan blithely steals scenes as Rose's roommate. Slate, however, is a standout, completely delightful and wholly believable as Rose curdles into her own guilt and good intentions.
My Blind Brother
Directed by: Sophie Goodhart
Written by: Sophie Goodhart
Starring: Jenny Slate, Adam Scott, Zoe Kazan, Nick Kroll, Charlie Hewson, Maryann Nagel
