This was kind of a test watch, the first film I watched through Netflix's instant watch option. I didn't expect this film to be that good, and I didn't want to waste a place in my queue for it. My instincts were correct about the film's quality. Bob Odenkirk, one of the funniest men who ever lived, hasn't had great success as a director. This film is unbelievably sloppy in both its script and its editing. I rarely notice editing mistakes, but they're rampant here. Everything would be forgiven, of course, if the film were funny. The Brothers Solomon has its moments, but, in general, it's lame. Will Arnet and Will Forte play too socially stunted brothers who want to have a baby before their coma-afflicted father passes. After failing to land women who would willingly have their children, they find a woman (Kristen Wiig) who is willing to do it for money. I can come up with a lot of things wrong with this picture. For example, Will Arnet is too much of an alpha male type to play a hopeless loser. Plus, as that alpha male type, he's better suited to jerk roles. It can be hard, if not impossible, to root for him. And Forte is funny enough on Saturday Night Live, but he never stood out. He comes off as weaker than Arnet, and, even if I'm not laughing at Arnet, he ends up burying Forte. Wiig is usually a pretty funny gal, but she's cast here as the straight man. The only actor who consistently gets laughs is Chi McBride as Wiig's enormous African American boyfriend with a foul mouth. Swears may be cheap laughs, but when watching a comedy with a dearth of laughs, I'll take the cheap ones.
Review of The Brothers Solomon
