Movie Review: "My Blind Brother" (2016)

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Movie: "My Blind Brother"
Director: Sophie Goodheart
Year: 2016
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

A rivalry heats up between Bill (Nick Kroll) and his overachieving blind brother Robbie (Adam Scott) when a girl Bill likes is guilt-tripped into dating Robbie.

"My Blind Brother" is written and directed by Sophie Goodhart. It stars Adam Scott as Robbie, a blind overachiever who regularly performs athletic feats like marathons for charity. Nick Kroll plays his brother Bill, who often acts as a guide for Robbie through these marathons and his other athletic displays, yet never gets any recognition, let alone a thank you. Joining them is Jenny Slate as Rose, a young woman who has a past with Bill. One night after the death of her boyfriend, Rose and Bill meet at his wake, hit it off, and sleep together just once after which Rose breaks it off due to complications with her previous relationship. Looking to do some good and in an effort to cleanse her soul, Rose volunteers to help disabled people and winds up meeting Robbie. After a bit of a misunderstanding, Rose starts dating Robbie out of pity, only to find out Bill is his brother. From there, a series of awkward encounters occur where Rose has to hide her feelings for Bill while faking interest in Robbie. It also doesn't help that Robbie is a bit of an arrogant prick, but no one says anything because of his disability.

This movie is an offbeat black comedy offering a lot of humor from subjects that are often not made fun of for fear of judgment and being PC. Jenny Slate always chooses to act in the types of quirky indie comedies that take a path less traveled, and "My Blind Brother" is no different. Nick Kroll has become quite the versatile actor since ending his Comedy Central show, which we loved, and he's actually sort of brilliant here. He produces a very funny and even mildly endearing performance as the guy who is willing to do anything for his brother, but is tired of not being recognized and thanked for his efforts. Adam Scott is always an excellent choice when a likable but abrasive character is needed for a script as he has an innate ability to move from one of these traits to another with great ease. Filmmaker Sophie Goodheart does a solid job integrating a character who happens to be blind into the story without ever making it feel like it is mocking those with visual impairments.

Overall, "My Blind Brother" is almost always engaging, providing a very witty, humorous twist on the romantic comedy. It is packed with solid performances and hilarious dialogue.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 81%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!