Brothers

Brothers (Jim Sheridan, 2009)

THE SCOOP
Director: Jim Sheridan
Plot: A young man comforts his older brother's wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan.

Genre: Drama/Thriller/War
Awards: Nom. for 2 Golden Globes - best lead actor (drama), original song.
Runtime: 104min
Rating: PG for language and some disturbing violent content.

IN RETROSPECT
Brothers is a film with so much cinematic potential that if under the hands of a proficient director would have been one of the best films of the year. The director in question here is Jim Sheridan, an Irish filmmaker whose (quite) impressive filmography reads My Left Foot: The Story Of Christy Brown (1989), In The Name Of The Father (1993), and In America (2002). He has failed to win an Oscar despite being nominated six times for directing, writing, and producing. If that is any indication that he has reached the ceiling of his ability, it probably is.

Sheridan shows his competency in dealing with the A-list cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman. There is no lead actor in this film, and it would be unfair to single out a cast member for praise or scrutiny because this is like a small ensemble piece – the actors complement one another. The characters drift in and out of the picture periodically and at strategic moments with Sheridan emphasizing the psychological states of each. Unfortunately, I see this ‘drift’ as a debatable flaw in the film.

The story is structured such that the film runs on two parallel narrative threads occurring simultaneously. One focuses on Cpt. Sam Cahill’s (Maguire) tour of duty in Afghanistan who later goes missing on a mission. The other focuses on Grace (Portman), Sam’s wife, and Tommy (Gyllenhaal), Sam’s ex-convict brother who are both back home in suburban America. The dramatic sequences in the film alternate between Sam’s tortuous ordeal under ruthless insurgents, and the suggested growing intimacy between Grace and Tommy as the latter assumes the role of the ‘father’ in the film.

This fractured style of narrative technique propels the film (too quickly) to an underdeveloped conclusion which is less climatic than expected. The sudden rush towards the ending leaves viewers in the dust as to how we should feel for the outcome. The characters may have reconciled and resolved their complex relationship-cum-psychological issues, but viewers are not convinced that these characters are not just merely temporary stitching up a gaping wound.

With Brothers, Sheridan touches deep into two relevant areas of concern for American families today. One, the consequences of (the Iraq/Afghanistan) war on the family, and second, war’s effect on an individual’s psyche. The big question is: “Is a traumatized soldier/family man who returns from his tour of duty any better than a dead one who died for a lost cause for his country?” The acting elevates the film into something decent, but the way the story is told warrants only an ‘above average’ rating.

SCORE: 7/10
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Last updated: 2010-05-30 02:54:38 by eternality_tan

FILM REVIEW : Brothers (2009)

Brothers... what is there to say about Brothers? Well, director Jim Sheridan did an alright job with it. Still, the only thing about the film that was really noteworthy was the acting.

Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is supposedly killed in Afghanistan. His wife Grace (Natalie Portman) is depressed, as is par for the course. Sam's brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) isn't really known for being the most upright citizen, mainly because he isn't. He has just been released from prison for robbing a bank. Grace has never been a big fan of Tommy, noting his "bad boy" behavior as her reasoning. Nevertheless, he tries to console Grace during her time of need; the two end up kissing each other and... nothing happens beyond that. The two wisely recognize that their behavior was simply an expression of how they miss Sam.

Well, guess what happens? Sam isn't actually dead! He comes home... and notices that Grace and Tommy aren't entirely pessimistic towards one another anymore. He reads between the lines too much and assumes that they've been having an affair.

It's a decent film at best. The acting from Gyllenhaal and Portman is good. Maguire is good as well, but I don't think he was as good as his co-stars.

That's about it. Nothing really stood out to me aside from Bailee Madison's performance. She played one of Grace and Sam's two daughters. She has a fantastic scene towards the end of the film that she nails. I'd be lobbying for an Oscar nomination (dead serious), but the Academy won't like this film as much as Little Miss Sunshine. And we all know that the Academy only nominates the youngin's when they like the film they're starring in.

I wasn't expecting much from Brothers, and I really didn't get much either. A strong performance from child actor Bailee Madison and some solid work from Gyllenhaal, Maguire, and Portman. Aside from that, these Brothers didn't have much to offer.

Mildly recommended

Rating: 5.5 out of 10 stars (3 out of 5 stars)

Photo Courtesy: About Hollywood Movies

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Julian Stark (pen name)<br />
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Last updated: 2010-04-20 07:36:02 by JulianStark

Brothers - ****

Review:  Every once in a while you get a movie that is completely the opposite of what you thought it was gonna be and it blows you away.  The last time I came across a movie like this was Bug and before that it was Inglorious Basterds.  I am lucky if I get one in a year but this year I have gotten 3, that's a pretty good year by my estimation.

This movie definitely took what I thought it was and turned it on it's ear and was a very good film.  Even through about 45 minutes I stil wasn't thinking it was what everyone was saying it was, but then the movie changed, literally in an instant, and from that point on I was hooked and engrossed in this film.

The movie centers around Sam Cahill (Toby MacGuire) who is a happily married father of two who is in the Marine Corps.  Sam is about to be deployed back to Afghanistan again within the next week.  Before he leaves though, he has to pick up his brother Tommy who is being released from jail.  Tommy is the screw up of the family and has never been as good as his brother at anything.  We never get the full story of why Tommy is in jail, only bits and pieces, but it is enough to realize that he screwed up and his brother Sam is in a much more enviable position with the great family and being a war hero soldier.
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Sam ships off to Afghanistan and leaves his family.  While in Afghanistan Sam's helicopter gets shot down and he is taken as a POW.  However, this is not known to the Army and therefore his family is told that he is dead.  This death takes quite a toll on the family as everyone goes through the "thinking it but not saying it" thought that the wrong son died.  Why couldn't it be Tommy instead?  This no doubt haunts Tommy as well as he has accepted who he is and where he is in life.

Eventually Sam escapes and is returned home to find Tommy having turned over a new leaf and now is a big part of Sam's family life.  This is where the movie starts to turn (and where I got truly sucked in) so I will stop with the plot explanation there.

Seeing the trailer and knowing what I did of the plot I thought this movie was going to be your typical "is my brother sleeping with my wife" cheating, paranoid, revenge movie, but I was positively proven wrong.  This movie is more about how war can change a man and how that affects everyone around you after you come back.  When Sam returns he is a different person, his wife feels differently about him and his kids are scared by him.  He is noticeably not the same, but won't let on why he has changed so much. 

I have never had an immediate family member in the Armed Forces let alone come back from combat in the war, so I could not imagine how much of a toll that would take on someone mentally and how much that would affect the family when that person returned.  It is definitely something that has been a part of movies in the past but has not been the focal point.  When it has, the results have been great (see:  Born on the 4th of July), and this movie is no exception.

The performances by Gyllenhaal, Macguire, and Natalie Portman are all phenomenal.  They were powerful enough to get their emotions across but yet understated enough to seem real.  You could easily see how these characters act as the way they would actually be in this situation in real life.  There are some incredibly powerful scenes in this movie and it is the actors ability to keep themselves in control of these characters that allow them to be plausible and not skip off into cheesy or dramatic.  I did not think I was going to enjoy this film very and I really, really did.  It comes highly recommended and is definitely worth your time.

Brothers

Directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America), Brothers is the story of the shifting of roles between two polar opposite brothers when one of them is captured by the Taliban whilst serving as a Marine in Afghanistan and the aftermath that ensues on his release and return home. It is based upon Susanne Biers 2004 Danish film of the same name. /</igdiv style="clear: both; text-align: left;"/>/ig
Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are the two brothers in question. Sam is a Marine Captain who is deployed to Afghanistan in the beginning of the film just after his brother Tommy is released from Prison for Armed Robbery. The two brothers are close but total opposites. Whilst Sam is married with two young daughters to his high-school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), Tommy is the black-sheep of the family, an ex-con with tattoos and a bad attitude.

Whilst on his tour of Afghanistan Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is reported dead to the family back in America, while in actual fact he has been captured by the Taliban and is forced to witness torturous atrocities and will eventually have to make a moral choice that will change him forever. This is where the shift in the story happens.

At home the family try to come to terms with their loss and younger brother Tommy decides to step-up and be there for his grieving sister-in-law and his two young nieces. It’s obvious that Tommy has always played second-fiddle to his older Brother, the relationship between him and his hard-drinking Vietnam Veteran father Hank (played by Sam Shepard) is strained to say the least - Hank likes to remind Tommy what a hero his brother is and what a failure he is constantly. However, with Sam "away" the family’s initial coolness towards Tommy melts and he becomes an important part of their lives, particularly his eldest niece Isabelle (Bailee Madison).

When Sam is eventually rescued and returned home, he is a shadow of his former self. Emaciated and emotionally-scarred, the transition in the relationship with his wife and daughters is obvious straight-away and the shift in the relationship of the brothers fully starts to unravel.

Tobey Maguire plays the role of Sam with such passion and integrity; he is utterly believable as the loving steadfast family man turned psychologically-scarred ex-captive. In an interview with Tobey he says that he wasn't much fun to live with whilst he was making this film and you can see that he fully-immersed himself in the role both physically and mentally.

Both Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal are excellent too in their respective roles. Gyllenhaal transforming throughout the film as the rebel, angst-ridden ex-con to the caring Uncle and Brother is fantastic and believable at all times. Portman plays her role as the grieving widow, consumed by the loss of her high-school sweetheart and the confusion in her feelings towards his brother with finesse and beauty.

Jim Sheridan has done an amazing job with this film. Yes it does have an all-star cast but in no way does it detract from the poignant and emotional story. The result is a powerful and moving modern tale of the different wars going on, both on the battlefield and within the home.
<p align="left">Brothers is released on Friday 22 January 2010

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http://robinollysays.blogspot.com

Brothers (2009)

Directed By: Jim Sheridan

Starring: Tobey McGuire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal

What It’s All About:

Sam (McGuire) and Tommy (Gyllenhaal) are brothers. Sam is a marine on his fourth tour in the Middle East and Tommy has just gotten out of jail. Sam is believed to be killed in action when his helicopter goes down, and the movie tells the story of Tommy growing as a man, becoming responsible and helping his brother’s family function. Sam is actually alive, and once he returns home, the psychological trauma takes his toll and himself, his family, and his brother.

The Verdict:

Brothers is a harsh and realistic look at the effects of war not only on the soldiers, but the families who are left behind. McGuire puts in a stunning performance that will hopefully lift him out of his Spiderman fame and realise he is a shining force when placed in a dramatic setting. Natalie Portman is stunning as the widow struggling with the loss of her husband. Beneath all this sadness there is deep understanding of the human condition, and Sheridan isn’t afraid to show that every family has it’s own issues. A great film, great cast, and a wonderful yet sad story to be told.

4/5

Recommendations:

Last updated: 2010-03-04 20:16:07 by hellerphant

Brothers: Trading Places

The Movie Slut almost skipped this one. First there was the cheesy trailer. Then the dopey critics. They hated it.

The Movie Slut, on the other hand, was intrigued. This is no Cain and Abel do-over as some suggested. It's a thoughtful movie with a riveting theme.

OK, so there are two brothers, Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal.) The good and the bad. Sam goes to war (Afghanistan) and is seriously messed up in the head. Tommy comes out of prison and finds his better self. 

But what this uneven melodrama is really about is choices and decisions. What would you do to save your life? That's the decision Sam has to make.

To be fair to the critics, the movie contains some pretty lame acting from the usually excellent Maguire, Natalie Portman and Sam Shepard. The MS chose to overlook this because Brothers is an apolitical anti-war movie. Timely.

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See you at the movies, The Movie Slut

Brothers

So the big question this movie is asking is.. If you're brother died. And his wife is Natalie Portman, would you hit on her? And my answer is, I wouldn't even wait for him to die hahahahaha.


Brothers is about Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal playing brothers. Tobey is the responsible brother that every parent will tell their children, "Why can't you be like Tobey." And Jake is the brother who's always getting in to trouble. So Tobey gets recruited to join the war in Iraq and through some horrible miscommunication, Natalie Portman, Tobey's wife thinks he's dead. This is when Jake steps up to try to hold the family together through this trying time. But things change when Tobey does come back from war... and something is very odd about him.



Now if you watched the trailer to this movie, it is going to sell you something that this movie is not at all, which is a very cheesy soap opera. People would think this is a film about Jake and Natalie having an affair behind Tobey Maguire's back, which is totally not that. This film is really an experimentation of war and how it affects people directly in the war and the people at home. Brothers is a lot like The Deer Hunter except Brothers has Natalie Portman for me to look at.



This movie has two plots really. One being Jake Gyllenhaal and the family trying to move on after believing that Tobey Maguire's dead and Jake finally beginning to take responsibility. The other side of the story follows Tobey Maguire in terrorist captivity and being forced to do some really messed up shit. And when I say messed up.. I mean like Saw kind of messed up. They drive his character into the absolute breaking point.



And when he comes back, he isn't the same person that he was back then. He begins to act strange and his family tries not to talk about what happened to him much.



You know, I have never thought of Tobey Maguire as scary. Even when he was Spider-Man, I always though, "Pfft.. I could beat up this nerd." But damn. Those blue eyes he has, they become frightening. He just stares off into space looking directly at the camera like he was some predator marking you as his dinner. he starts being really mean to his kids, he begins suspecting his wife of cheating with his brother. He just becomes downright scary.



You really feel scared for Natalie Portman's character once her husband finally cracks and lets out this huge barrage of rage unto her in the climax of the movie. The scene looked like any other drunk husband going off on his wife but that's not the case for Tobey Maguire. He's doing this because he can't come to grips with the terrible things he's done in Iraq and he's taking it out on his family.



Natalie Portman is great in this movie to. She is not really in the movie much because it is more on Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal but I think she did a great job as the wife. This is what Amidala should have been in Revenge of the Sith. A helpless woman watching the man she loves turn into something destructive and not being able to do anything.



And that girl who plays Tobey Maguire's daughter.. Bailee Madison. She gave the greatest child performances I have ever seen! This girl's like 10 and she balances so many emotions so well at the same time. Like the dinner scene with the chick from Reaper, my God was she phenomenal in that. Maybe not an Oscar nomination but at least give this little kid a Best Young Talent from the Spirit Awards or something.



A great war drama with some really knock out of the park performances by the three leads and Bailee Madisson. I did feel that there were some scenes that could have been cut out to make the movie more bearable to watch but it's still a great film overall.

RATING: 7/10

NicholasC

Brothers

Writer: David Benioff based on 2004 film by Susanne Bier
Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal

This is a powerul and intimate drama about a returning soldier from Iraq whose return is full of doubt and paranoia. The scenes in Iraq are tense and powerful and the family drama at the end explodes into huge emotion. Tobey Maguire gives his best performance and Natalie Portman is beautiful and adds layers to the wife character. This is one of the best movies that deal with the effects of war on a soldier and the people who sorround him.

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Vincent Snavely

Brothers

     The previews do not do this film justice.  I did not expect such depth or power from what seemed like a fairly simple tale of war and family.  Unfortunately, I did expect better character development and more closure from this, or any, film, and I was disappointed there.
 
     The storyline for "Brothers," even without giving away too much, is difficult to sum up in one or two sentences.  Tobey Maguire, who gets to really show his range as an actor, plays a marine who is shot down and captured in Afghanistan.  He spends months as a captive before American forces find him.  Meanwhile, back home, his wife, played by Natalie Portman, his two young daughters, his ex con brother, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and his parents, all believe that he died in the crash and life goes on, as much as it can.  Portman grieves, the girls get to know their 'uncle Tommy,' Gyllenhaal's character, better, and Gyllenhaal (seems to) grow and mature as he and his father reconcile somewhat.  Maguire's character eventually returns home and can not come to terms with what happened while he was being help captive.  This, of course, effects his relationship with his wife, daughters, parents, and his brother and life slowly begins to break down.  
 
     This all seems rather standard and predictable, I know, however, the characters, who are not what you would expect from this kind of story, make "Brothers" compelling and engaging, right up until the end, which happens far too suddenly and lacks the closure necessary for a story with this much emotional investment.  Gyllenhaal's character self destructs just before the end and foreshadows the less than satisfying ending to come.  'Uncle Tommy' seemed to be developing quite well for most of the movie, then, just before the end, we discover that his character hasn't really grown or learned anything at all, and all the emotional investment we had in him is wasted.  Shortly after that, the film builds to a climax, and then fails to deliver and we are left wondering, 'So, what's next?'  There was a moment very near the end where I though we were going to get the point of the film, which was something about brotherhood, but it's a fleeting moment and far too much of the movie is concerned with Maguire's character's dark secret for this to simply be about the bond between brothers.
 
 
     "Brothers" had a lot of potential and came very close to being a powerful and poignant film, but falls apart in the end leaving far too many loose ends and abandoning it's characters to an almost obsessive quest for an answer to the question, 'What happened in Afghanistan?'  The revelation of which is not a surprise to the audience and fails to resolve anything.  It actually makes you feel that an ending is coming, but the only thing after that is darkness and credits. 
 
P.S.  I'd also like to say that I don't know what a good ending for "Brothers" might have been.  Everything I can think of is either cliche or undeserving of the rest of the film, and maybe that's why it seems to fall apart.

Brian
Ciné Critique Américain

Brothers (Movie Review)

Directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot) and based on the Danish film of the same name, Brothers is the story of two siblings. The older brother (Toby Maguire) is a U.S. Marine who’s declared missing and presumed dead in Afghanistan. The younger brother (Jake Gyllenhaal), recently released from prison, is considered the blacksheep of the family and develops a strong bond with his sister-in-law (Natalie Portman) and her two young daughters, following his brother’s “death.” The movie is very intense and for the most part very well acted. Portman and Gyllenhaal give outstanding performances and the work of the two young girls is extremely good. But Toby Maguire? I always thought Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal were interchangeable and could pass for brothers, but seeing them on the screen together showed me I completely underestimated Gyllenhaal.  He is a far better actor than Maguire. Golden Globe aside, Maguire is awful, completely over the top. You could see he was nuts as soon as he returned from Afghanistan.

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Last updated: 2010-01-22 06:24:27 by jfuchsman

Brothers (2009)

I sware if my brother ever did this, his ass would be grass. When severely traumatized Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) returns  home alive from a military mission in Afghanistan after he was presumed  dead, he learns that his brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), has gotten  dangerously close to his grieving wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his  kids.
The one thing to note about this film is that the trailer is totally  misleading. You think the movie is just about this soldier that dies,  and the soldiers brother and his wife have a so-called “affair”, then he  comes back and all hell breaks loose. Well that is kind of it, but its  also more about the post-dramatic stress war has on some people.
The film is a character study of these three peeps, directed by Jim  Sheridan, who has directed Daniel Day-Lewis films, My Left Foot, and The  Boxer, while also randomly directing 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.  He directs this film with little indie motives, but focuses the film  more on the relationship all these people have with each other. I feel  like the film got a little too depressing at points, which also added to  the very slow pace, that at times felt excruciating. Though, when  Maguire comes back from supposed “death” the scenes with him are so  uncomfortable and tense that it adds a lot to the film.
The writing in this movie is so-so, mostly because of the way it was  structured. I feel like the film started becoming over dramatic almost  every scene after another. Also, it happens too fast. We never really  get to see these two brothers to actually interact with one another to  get a full sense of their relationship and who they are to each other.  When Maguire comes back and accuses them of cheating on one another, not  once does any of them say “No. We did not have sex”. Instead, they just  choose to sit back and let him go crazy, even while he’s wielding  around a gun.
The saving grace of this film has to go out to the performances from  the cast. I think Gyllenhaal did a good job here, cause he wasn’t trying  to be one of those ultimately charming performances that you don’t  believe, but instead he plays a character that you can actually believe  with still enough charm. Natalie Portman was disappointing as Grace, and  I think she just looks way too much like a baby sitter, than a  grieving, war soldier mom. She looked too good, and her emotions just  didn’t seem genuine enough. The best thing about this movie is mostly  because of Tobey Maguire. I mean he has been type casted as Peter Parker  for so long, its actually refreshing to see him let out his skills, and  let me tell you one thing, he does. When he leaves for war, he is as  sweet as Peter Parker, but when he comes back, he is as sweet as Peter  Parker when he had that black stuff all over him, and a lot skinnier. He  is amazing, riveting, and overall believable, causing one of the  biggest freak-outs in all of cinema history.
Consensus: Brothers has a terrific performance from  Maguire and a riveting story at points, but doesn’t convey enough of  emotions it could have, an unreliable trailer, and a direction that at  times felt inspired, and also messy.
5.5/10=Rental!!!

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