Salina Art Center

“Mumblecore” is a term currently in vogue, referring to a type of independent film that’s shot fast and very cheaply, usually on digital video, featuring non-professional actors, improvisation, disregard for traditional plotting, handheld camerawork, and often uncomfortable insights into relationships and psychology.  A natural offshoot of the cinematic minimalism pushed by adherents of Dogme 95, YouTube, and the spirit of indie legends like Jim Jarmusch and John Cassavetes, mumblecore can be truly liberating.  Its democratic spirit suggests that filmmaking isn’t just for big studios and lucky amateurs who get picked up by an independent distributor: it says that everyone has the right to pick up a camera, gather some friends, and share his experiences, philosophy, and wisdom with the world.  But will the world always care?  That’s the question many dubious critics ask of the so-called mumblecore movement.  Like a lot of labels, though, this one tends to ignore any attempts at growth.  That’s a shame, because writer-director brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, best known for The Puffy Chair, have taken strides toward expanding the mumblecore genre-not going “mainstream,” exactly, but making it more accessible without losing those qualities of spontaneity, honesty, and recognizable moments that Hollywood films don’t provide.  For one thing, Cyrus actually has big names-at least in the independent film world: John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, and in the title role, Jonah Hill, notable member of the Judd Apatow comedy factory.  Tomei plays Molly, who’s trying to play peacemaker between her new boyfriend John (Reilly) and her grown son Cyrus (Hill).  John is amiable enough, but the infantile Cyrus is overcome with nearly incestuous jealousy.  It’s a situation that other comedies might play for very politically incorrect laughs, going well beyond the bounds of good taste, but the Duplass brothers maintain the mumblecore approach of observing calmly, letting human behavior dictate the outcome rather than constructing every scene in typical buildup-buildup-punch line format.  The Oedipal drama at the heart of Cyrus might be as old as Greek tragedy, but this isn’t pre-programmed entertainment which ends up exactly where we expect it to.  It goes where the characters go, and since human beings don’t always follow preconceived lines, the “plot” is freeform, just like real life.  The performances are excellent across the board-not overly-polished in a scripted way, but not meandering and banal like some improvisation becomes when reaching for “verisimilitude” (a stereotype that unfortunately keeps many moviegoers away from mumblecore films).  Tomei continues to surprise us with the depth of her talent, playing the attractive single mom who has a tendency to avoid seeing trouble.  Without resorting to bubblehead caricature, Tomei makes Molly sympathetic, appealing, and believably clueless.  Jonah Hill, recently seen in the Get Him to the Greek, is a fascinatingly maladjusted hero, playing silly tricks to undermine the developing relationship between Molly and sad sack John, verging on creepiness but never quite going past the point where he repulses the audience.  He’s incredibly watchable even though his pale, Charlie Brown-like face rarely registers emotion.  Cyrus is smarter than he first appears, and Hill makes us constantly wonder what he’s thinking.  John C. Reilly and Catherine Keener (as his ex-wife) are great as always, and the Duplass brothers serve all their actors well by refusing to condescend to these characters, even when they’re at their most childish, stubborn, and frustrating.  The tone is a little dark, but not overly so; a trifle ridiculous, but not quite over-the-top; often funny, even when we know it shouldn’t be; and refreshingly different and entertaining.  Cyrus  is a good introduction to the mumblecore aesthetic, and a hopeful direction for independent filmmakers who want to take the genre beyond navel-gazing and make it appeal to wider audiences, without sacrificing any of its offbeat charms.