It may be all in my head but it seems that
acting is all a bit better in independent films even by the best of
actors and actresses. It's  almost as if they really want to do the
role, are getting paid a lot less than they normally would and certainly
don't get the perks that they would get in high stakes Hollywood
movies.

In
"Cyrus" you have gifted veterans like John C. Reilly,  Marisa Tormei and Catherine Keener along
with new comer Jonah Hill and they all come through as real people each
playing to their strengths and to each other.

Cyrus is a small
film about a 21 year old boy (Jonah Hill) who was raised and home
schooled  by his single mother Molly (Marisa Tormei), still lives at home,
doesn't seem to have plans to leave and they are closer and more
attached to each other than most sons and mothers.

John (John C, Reilly) enters the picture after
meeting Molly 'cute' at a party. He has been divorced from Jamie
(Catherine Keener) for 7 years and still hasn't gotten over it even
though she is getting remarried. John soon moves in with Molly and a tug
of war starts between John and Cyrus as the former and his mother start
the process of falling in love.

The brothers Jay and Mark Duplass directed and wrote the
screenplay for this film playing it more for comedy than reaching for
the more serious problems of  a son who will walk in, and stay, in a
bathroom where his mother is taking a shower or is so jealous of her
boyfriend that he will go to extremes to chase him away but that would
be another movie. They also don't seem to realize that except for their
difference in age the two men are very similar which might be some of
the attraction  Molly has for John.

Cyrus is a warm, funny film that holds your interest and contains
fine acting. It is a lot better than most of the films released by the
main stream so far this year but won't be remembered at award time.