Official Movies Trailer: Brothers [Blu-ray]

Brothers [Blu-ray] Review

Contrary to what the trailer would have you believe, this is not a modern day, hedonistic Jane Austen novel with love triangles and pseudo-incestuous relationships. Save that garbage for Lifetime and A-Lister female celebrities who either want a time piece under their belt, or think they have the chops to translate a classic piece of chick-lit onto the big screen with more than a modicum of success. Looking at you, Kate Winslet. Instead, this movie instantly gains a star when it avoids the cheap and the obvious, delving into the rampant Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cases resulting from wars in the Middle East rather than an actual love triangle. Allowing the superb cast to channel emotions ranging from joy to despair, elation to psychosis, was a much wiser choice.

Just as Jarhead Captain Sam Hill (Tobey Maguire) is strapping on his LPCs and heading out to BFE, Afghanistan where he'll get sleepless nights in the sandbox and the 4 fingers of death for dinner, leaving his beautiful wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two daughters behind, bidding his Marine Corp father an Alpha Mike Foxtrot, his soup sandwich brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is being released from prison for an undisclosed crime.

All is well in the MMFD until Hill's chopper flight goes Tango Uniform, hit by enemy fire. Thrown to his fourth point of contact with no time to pop smoke, his situation is a FUBAR Charlie Foxtrot and he's taken prisoner by the Taliban. Captured with a Private, Cpt. Hill reminds the lower enlisted Marine to remain disciplined and strong. He is assumed dead, and his family is informed of the travesty. Before the dress blues have left the driveway, Sam's brother Blue Falcons him back home, playing the role of Jodie with Grace. When he's rescued, however, the movie heats up as PTSD hinders the reacclimation with his family and causes him to engage in the mental goat rope of infidelitous thoughts.

Military lingo aside, this is a very compelling film dealing with timely subject matter. The three leads are wonderful, but Tobey Maguire really stretches his legs in his role as a traumatized Marine back from war. When he begins to go bug-eyed - aided by his gaunt appearance - it's genuinely disturbing. The pacing away from war is a little slow but manageable.

I give very high praise and recommendation for director Jim Sheridan's work in this film. He made the right choices, let the stars dominate the screen, and created a wonderful, albeit imbalanced movie.

Brothers [Blu-ray] Overview

Captain Sam Cahill (Maguire) is embarking on his fourth tour of duty, leaving behind his beloved wife (Portman) and two daughters. When Sam’s Blackhawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan, the worst is presumed, leaving an enormous void in the family. Despite a dark history, Sam’s charismatic younger brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal) steps in to fill the family void.

Brothers [Blu-ray] Specifications

Screenwriter David Benioff (The 25th Hour) didn't have to do much to relocate Brothers from Denmark to America. The story remains the same: Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) loves his family, but he's equally devoted to his career. Just as his ne'er-do-well brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), exits prison, where he did time for robbery, the Marines deploy Sam to Afghanistan. Tommy starts looking in on his wary sister-in-law, Grace (Natalie Portman), but then Sam's helicopter crashes in the mountains, and the military informs Grace that her husband has died. Unbeknownst to the Cahill clan, the Taliban has taken Sam hostage and tortures him to elicit information. Sam resists, but his colleague caves, leading to an unthinkable act. Back in New Mexico, Grace and Tommy grow closer, stopping just short of a full-blown affair (in Susanne Bier's original, they take the plunge). Even Tommy's disapproving Vietnam vet father, Hank (Sam Shepard), sees his son in a new light after Tommy renovates Grace's kitchen. But when Sam is rescued by his company, he returns a broken man and is convinced that his wife has fallen in love with his brother. Even his daughters are afraid of him (Bailee Madison impresses as the eldest). As in Bier's film, Jim Sheridan (In America) elevates redemption and forgiveness over tragedy and loss, and his well-meaning remake gets off to a solid start, but it loses steam by the end. Brothers offers a compelling scenario, but the telling is too overstated to capture the full heartbreak of the situation. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Brothers (Click for larger image)