Jim Sheridan, Brothers is the remake of a Danish film by the same name (Brodre, 2004). The advantage of the original is that without famous faces, the movie generates more power. You buy into the story quicker because the previous characters the actors have played never pop into your mind. For example, it's virtually impossible not to have the thought, "Tobey Mcguire, Spiderman, wow, he really has range". We all know how to move past this but Brodre is better because it's not so "Hollywood". The movie is about two brothers. One is a war hero, Sam Cahill (Mcguire), recently deployed to a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The other brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a screw up who has just been released from prison. When Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is thought to be dead, Tommy rallies and comes to the aide of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). But we know that Sam is not dead. He has been taken prisoner with another marine and tortured. He is eventually rescued but he returns home seriously disturbed by his POW experience. The truth is, this family has already been ravaged by war long before that helicopter is ever shot down. The boys father, Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), has experienced the damaging effects of a previous war. He is a hard drinking ex-marine who served in Vietnam. His limited ability to be a husband and father is made perfectly clear at Sam's goodbye dinner. This aspect of the movie, the multi-generational collateral damage of war, is the films strength. Both boys have taken different paths, but both are reactionary to their fathers' inability to express affection or compassion. The most poignant scene in the movie is when Sam, recently returned home, behaves towards his daughter Isabelle exactly like his father behaves toward Tommy. All the performances are just O.K. , no raves except Bailee Madison as Isabelle. It is one of the best child performances I have seen since Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) or Natalie Portman in The Professional (her best role ever-1994). You can wait for Brothers to come out on DVD or On Demand; it does not need a big screen. It should be required viewing for any young man or woman thinking about enlisting. The movie is not without it's shortcomings but it makes one thing perfectly clear, war is hell for everyone it touches. The unbelievable and discouraging fact is that absolutely nothing has changed in Afghanistan since Brodre was released 5 years ago (except now we have more men there - ugh). Try to see the original, you won't be sorry.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Movie Review: Brothers
Brothers is the anti-war movie of the decade. It is to the Afghan war what Coming Home (1978) was to the Vietnam war. Directed by Jim Sheridan, Brothers is the remake of a Danish film by the same name (Brodre, 2004). The advantage of the original is that without famous faces, the movie generates more power. You buy into the story quicker because the previous characters the actors have played never pop into your mind. For example, it's virtually impossible not to have the thought, "Tobey Mcguire, Spiderman, wow, he really has range". We all know how to move past this but Brodre is better because it's not so "Hollywood". The movie is about two brothers. One is a war hero, Sam Cahill (Mcguire), recently deployed to a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The other brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a screw up who has just been released from prison. When Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is thought to be dead, Tommy rallies and comes to the aide of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). But we know that Sam is not dead. He has been taken prisoner with another marine and tortured. He is eventually rescued but he returns home seriously disturbed by his POW experience. The truth is, this family has already been ravaged by war long before that helicopter is ever shot down. The boys father, Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), has experienced the damaging effects of a previous war. He is a hard drinking ex-marine who served in Vietnam. His limited ability to be a husband and father is made perfectly clear at Sam's goodbye dinner. This aspect of the movie, the multi-generational collateral damage of war, is the films strength. Both boys have taken different paths, but both are reactionary to their fathers' inability to express affection or compassion. The most poignant scene in the movie is when Sam, recently returned home, behaves towards his daughter Isabelle exactly like his father behaves toward Tommy. All the performances are just O.K. , no raves except Bailee Madison as Isabelle. It is one of the best child performances I have seen since Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) or Natalie Portman in The Professional (her best role ever-1994). You can wait for Brothers to come out on DVD or On Demand; it does not need a big screen. It should be required viewing for any young man or woman thinking about enlisting. The movie is not without it's shortcomings but it makes one thing perfectly clear, war is hell for everyone it touches. The unbelievable and discouraging fact is that absolutely nothing has changed in Afghanistan since Brodre was released 5 years ago (except now we have more men there - ugh). Try to see the original, you won't be sorry.
Jim Sheridan, Brothers is the remake of a Danish film by the same name (Brodre, 2004). The advantage of the original is that without famous faces, the movie generates more power. You buy into the story quicker because the previous characters the actors have played never pop into your mind. For example, it's virtually impossible not to have the thought, "Tobey Mcguire, Spiderman, wow, he really has range". We all know how to move past this but Brodre is better because it's not so "Hollywood". The movie is about two brothers. One is a war hero, Sam Cahill (Mcguire), recently deployed to a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The other brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a screw up who has just been released from prison. When Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is thought to be dead, Tommy rallies and comes to the aide of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). But we know that Sam is not dead. He has been taken prisoner with another marine and tortured. He is eventually rescued but he returns home seriously disturbed by his POW experience. The truth is, this family has already been ravaged by war long before that helicopter is ever shot down. The boys father, Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), has experienced the damaging effects of a previous war. He is a hard drinking ex-marine who served in Vietnam. His limited ability to be a husband and father is made perfectly clear at Sam's goodbye dinner. This aspect of the movie, the multi-generational collateral damage of war, is the films strength. Both boys have taken different paths, but both are reactionary to their fathers' inability to express affection or compassion. The most poignant scene in the movie is when Sam, recently returned home, behaves towards his daughter Isabelle exactly like his father behaves toward Tommy. All the performances are just O.K. , no raves except Bailee Madison as Isabelle. It is one of the best child performances I have seen since Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) or Natalie Portman in The Professional (her best role ever-1994). You can wait for Brothers to come out on DVD or On Demand; it does not need a big screen. It should be required viewing for any young man or woman thinking about enlisting. The movie is not without it's shortcomings but it makes one thing perfectly clear, war is hell for everyone it touches. The unbelievable and discouraging fact is that absolutely nothing has changed in Afghanistan since Brodre was released 5 years ago (except now we have more men there - ugh). Try to see the original, you won't be sorry.
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and sadly they won't have changed for 500 more years. I like your observation of not getting past the actors previous character roles. I find that often myself..good to know I'm not the only one!!
ReplyDeleteand thanks for taking the time to read it. Much appreciated!!
ReplyDeleteThanks to your review I'll move past the distraction of "Spiderman" and focus on
ReplyDeletethe story line. Harmony