‘Brothers’ fails to live up to plot’s potential

Director Jim Sheridan has everything he needs to make a film like “Brothers” excellent. There’s a good cast, a catchy story centered on an already-familiar narrative, and a strong underlying theme of family loyalty. The problem however, is that Sheridan knows he has all of this great potential, and therefore tries too hard to execute it. Now granted, “Brothers” is still a good film, and well worth the price of admission for any curious party, but as I drove home from the test screening last night, one of the first things I said to myself was: “with movies like this, it really sucks to be a critic because unlike occasional moviegoers, our minds are practically “seasoned” to pick apart every little thing … no wonder people hate us.”

From a distance, the plot of the film comes off as somewhat of a clash between family soap operas and modern war-vet homages, but to his credit Sheridan manages to find the right type of focus as he creates a moral labyrinth between two brothers who are polar opposites in every which way. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is the good son; married to his high school sweetheart Grace (Natalie Portman), father of two kids, and never once failed to make their father (Sam Shepard) proud.

And then there’s Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal); a worthless drifter who has no responsibility, makes excuses for a living, and has just gotten out of prison in time for his brother’s farewell dinner, as Sam prepares to embark on his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. I don’t think I need to tell you which brother is favored by the other family members, but aside from their attitudes toward each other, there is a serious tone of loneliness and emptiness that exists in every supporting character once Sam has left. We’ve all seen plenty of films where the narrative is driven by emotional pain caused by military service, but this is the first one in years that actually examines the “loved ones back home.”

Okay, so we already know, just from the trailer, that while Sam is gone, Tommy will reluctantly help Grace and the kids. He needs a place to stay, they need someone to comfort them in his absence, and once his chopper is shot down (and they reasonably presume he has died), it’s only fitting to assume that Tommy and Grace will eventually “share a moment.” This moment, while clichéd, is handled exquisitely by Gyllenhaal and Portman as they share some good chemistry in a scene where the loving wife realizes that the black sheep has a much bigger heart than she thought, and after passing a joint of marijuana, it becomes apparent that Grace isn’t exactly the typical cheerleader everyone (including the audience) expected.

Shifting back and forth between the combat zone and the home front, Sheridan takes full advantage of the first hour as he establishes the proper mood(s) of his story. Unfortunately however, just when it should be getting stronger, “Brothers” slowly starts wearing thin as Sam unexpectedly turns up alive, and prepares to come back home.

For the sake of maintaining the suspense, I won’t reveal any details as to what exactly happened to Sam overseas, but what I can tell you is that in spite of how demented his experience may have been, Maguire completely overdoes the “after-effect” of the character. Obviously he’s bound to feel betrayed once he realizes that his once no-good brother has taken over his husband/father role in the family, but in a crucial scene where Sam pulls a gun on Tommy, Maguire tries way too hard to sell the pay-off, and with his childish voice (still reminiscent of Spidey) nearly shatters the climax of the film.

Like I said earlier; as a critic, it is my job to see everything that comes out, so for anyone who really puts their faith in my opinion, let me go ahead and tell you that if you’re at-all curious about “Brothers,” I have no reason not to recommend it. If you’re a fan of any (if not all) of the lead thespians, I feel confident that the film will suffice your needs. Just understand, that when you see 2-3 films a week like I do, it’s really just the “masterpieces” that stick out. But if you go only about once a month to the theater, a lot of the formulaic norms aren’t near as obvious. Especially the ones regarding foreign political affairs, because as time goes on, more and more families have “someone to pray for.”

Grade: B

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 4 2009. Filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry