“My Blind Brother” and “Goat”

A dorky yet lovable guy hooks up with a hot chick. The affair turns into a one-night stand when she leaves without giving him her number. Our likeable hero has a brother that’s blind. Next thing he knows the mystery woman has become a volunteer to help handicapped people and is dating his brother. Complications ensue.

My Blind Brother unwinds with the authority of a well-constructed sex farce and comes courtesy of the no doubt warped mind of debut writer/director Sophie Goodhart. Nick Kroll plays the sighted brother with an earnestness that makes you root for him even when he tries to sabotage his blind brother’s (Adam Scott) ambitions. Jenny Slate is the fetching femme.

Kroll assists Scott in the latter’s athletic pursuits like running in marathons or swimming across lakes to raise funds for other blind people. Here’s the rub: Scott’s character is a total asshole, a fact that the audience is aware of and that Slate slowly starts to realize. The humor flows freely whether it’s Kroll leaving cabinets open for Scott to bump into or a more sophisticated subtext about the nature of romance.

My Blind Brother unwinds starting this weekend exclusively at the downtown Sundance Cinemas Houston.

The main reason to see Goat would be the lead performance of actor Ben Schnetzer, who also currently can be seen co-starring in Snowden.

Schnetzer plays an everyman young dude who has just started college. After a party he gets mugged and left on the side of the road after giving a ride to a couple of guys who he thinks are also leaving said party. Goat doesn’t want to judge the facts of the assault or even seek retribution so much as it wants to get into Schnetzer’s head as he tries to fit in amongst his new university friends.

When a brutal fraternity-hazing incident occurs it further clouds issues that Schnetzer must deal with. Goat is a drama that wants to present issues without offering clear resolutions.

On a side note if you want to see an excellent documentary on fraternity hazing check out Todd Phillips’ Frat House (1998), scenes of which seem to be copied in Goat. Frat House was made for HBO, but never released on that network as Phillips had not properly cleared rights and gotten releases signed and the film was besieged by lawsuits.

Goat plays exclusively at downtown Sundance Cinemas Houston starting this weekend.

by Michael Bergeron