Brothers (2009) – on rental. Besides the box of Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Series blu-ray discs that I picked up over the weekend, a couple of other films also arrived on rental. One was Gamer, the violent virtual world action movie starring Gerald Butler, James Cameron’s Avatar, and the last – a drama called Brothers, starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman.
When you’ve got a trio of very fine young adult actors like the above starring in the same drama, you know the film’s gonna be one thick with powerful characterizations in the roles played yet replete with nuances in the story.
Brothers doesn’t disappoint in these two aspects. Sam Cahill (Maguire) is a military officer who loves his wife, Grace (Portman), and his two young daughters. His younger brother, Tommy (Gyllenhaal), on the other hand is a perpetual loser and drunk who’s just finished serving time for bank robbery. Their father (Sam Sheppard), an ex-military man himself, displays open contempt for Tommy and constantly compares him to his high-performing and model of a character older brother.
Tragedy strikes though when Sam returns to Afghanistan on his second tour of duty. His helicopter ferrying him and his team of men is shot down over hostile territory, and he’s presumed dead. As the family struggles to reconcile with the loss, Tommy tries to turn over a new leaf and fill the void left by his brother. Sam’s two girls eventually take after Tommy and accept him as their surrogate daddy – but feelings also start to develop between him and Grace.
The proverbial spanner comes when it’s discovered that Sam didn’t die, but has been captured and tortured by the Taliban. He’s rescued but on his return, he’s a changed man – traumatized, and both emotionally and physically scarred. His two girls no longer connect to him, and worst still, he suspects that Grace has been unfaithful in his absence. Things turn for the worse when his older daughter in a fit of anger accidentally blurts out that Mommy has been sleeping with uncle Tommy. Sam picks up a revolver and goes berserk.
While Brothers is set against the backdrop of the current war against terror in Afghanistan, it’s not ostensibly a war film, nor does it take sides about the ongoing conflict there. The themes in the film are centered instead on how forced circumstances can lead to change in our persons. Sam starts off as a glowing exemplar of a responsible and loving father, and Tommy the dead drunk. But when Sam returns from his imprisonment, he’s a mess, and Tommy has transformed into the father and husband that Sam once was.
To the production’s credit, the theme is supported by fine performances from all three leads. Maguire is already very well-known for his role as Peter Parker in the Spider-man comic superhero films, but any lingering doubts of whether the guy can really act will disappear when you see his performance here. He’s actually playing two very different roles: one before his capture, and one after he comes home. Maguire has been nominated for several acting awards for this film and he deserves it. I’ve seen Gyllenhaal and Portman in similar serious roles before, and Portman especially shines as the grieving then conflicted widow when she slowly becomes cognizant to the fact that she might be starting to feel something for Tommy, despite her love for her presumed-dead husband.
Lots of other little pluses too. The entire film is sort of low-key. There are no big battle scenes, no gratuitous make-out scenes or fancy CG work. Much of the film is played out in the Cahill family home, and there’s a genuine feeling of sincerity and earnestness in the director wanting to tell a heartfelt story. Also, unlike many other films of this type involving children actors, the two young girls actually have significant roles in this story, and they are wonderfully played by Bailee Madison and Taylor Grace Geare.
The only clunkers lie in the motley bunch of Afghan terrorists. They’re painted in such broad strokes that it’s jarring when the rest of the film is so subtle in its presentation. That terrorizing crew is so evil that they’re almost cartoonish. Also, the DVD rental was apparently a local licensed version produced by Scorpio East Entertainment – and the transfer is abysmal which is just sad as this is no fault of the film. Frankly, I think local distributors should stay clear off trying to put out encodes of films made elsewhere.
On the overall still, a great film worth catching. I just might pick up the film on blu-ray later again.
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