This is an earlier (2008) Duplass brothers movie that was not released until now. (Jay Duplass explained that as they were finishing this film, they got the go ahead to make their other films Cyrus and Jeff Who Lives at Home; since this one was one they were doing themselves, and the other two were studio films, they put this one aside and only recently finished it.)
This story is about two brothers, Mark and Jeremy. Mark (Steve Zissis), the seemingly more put-together brother, is married with a preteen son. He and his family are returning home to his mother's where Mark's wife has planned a birthday party for him. Jeremy (Mark Kelly), the supposedly irresponsible brother, has not been invited to the party due to his immature personality, but invites himself anyway.
When the brothers reach their childhood home, Jeremy re-instigates the Do-Deca-Pentathlon, a 25-event Olympic competition between him and his brother. This childhood contest between them was truncated when their father stopped the contest during the last event, leaving them at a tie. Mark, being responsible and also suffering from stress, tries to avoid any competition with his brother. But Jeremy appears to have returned home solely to finish this contest, and pushes Mark's buttons in the ways he knows how; the both of them start up the competition again, but in secret unbeknownst to Mark's wife Stephanie (Jennifer Lafleur) and their mother. They pretend to go jogging or to the grocery store but compete in stuff like laser tag and push-ups, roping in Mark's son on the secret too. Surprisingly it is Mark who becomes much too gung ho on winning and Jeremy begins to see this and wants to end the competition. Stephanie finds out and this divides her and Mark for a time.
For those who are expecting some "men behaving badly" hijinks, beware you may be disappointed. First and foremost this film is about the relationship between the brothers, a family dynamics drama. It was low-budget but the acting was good. These guys were believable as brothers with the related jealousies and rivals that siblings have, and overall all the characters as a family were realistic as well. I would have liked the brothers' relationship to have been enhanced more as to why they were so competitive, perhaps Jeremy feeling like he always had to measure up to Mark (Jeremy makes his living playing poker professionally, so not a conventional occupation a parent would wish for their child), or Mark being more successful due to him having to work harder at being competitive and providing for his family. The emotion was there but the facts were not. Also, their father's involvement in their lives was not explained fully, and, as the figure that ended the previous competition, for the film to explain him or more how his sons felt about him could have been another clue as to why the brothers grew up the way they did.
Although this had the trademark Duplass shifty/herky jerky camera, I think it works better with this film which has more physical tension than their other works, although to me it is still unnecessary and obtrusive. If they could give a legitimate reason why they do this (unless it is just an inexperienced cameraman) I don't think it would bother me as much.
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