A dearth of mirth from ‘Brothers’

The peals of silence destined to greet “The Brothers Solomon,” the not-funniest comedy of the year so far, are doubly depressing since the film squanders several funny performers. My favorite is Kristen Wiig, the “Saturday Night Live” regular, who was so good as the undermining E! Network lackey in “Knocked Up.” Here she’s stuck playing third banana to Will Arnett (“Arrested Development” and, perhaps, one too many voiceovers) and Will Forte, another “SNL” cast member and “Solomon” screenwriter.

The Wills play the socially maladroit brothers of the title, cockeyed optimists raised in an arctic science lab by a Grizzly Adams-type dad (Lee Majors). Dad slips into a coma just after expressing the wish for a grandson. The brothers take out an ad on Craigslist and find their $10,000 surrogate mother, played by Wiig.

Nothing is harder to overcome as a performer than a comedy going south.

Director Bob Odenkirk lets every other exchange dribble on, suffocating on its own dead air and diorama staging. Arnett has done well in supporting roles (he was the evil rival skater in “Blades of Glory”) but he’s exhausting here, geeking around with his scarifyingly whitened teeth like a stalker, even though he’s meant to be Charming Down Deep.

When Wiig’s character decides to keep the baby, you’re inevitably thrown into “Knocked Up” comparisons, which do “Solomon” no favors. This summer’s previous “SNL” knockoff comedy, “Hot Rod,” was a comic rocket compared to this mirth-free inertia.

“The Brothers Solomon.” MPAA rating: R for language and sexual content. Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes. In general release.