Lionsgate Films | 2009 | 104 mins. | Rated R
Director Jim Sheridan’s (My Left Foot, The Boxer) films usually offer viewers a powerful story with some surprising elements and great casting. Brothers, starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman is no exception; a remake of the 2004 Danish drama Brødre, the film uses a similar storyline but manages to pack an entirely different emotional wallop.
The film tells the story of two brothers. One always seems to make the right choices, the other, not so much. Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal), returning home after a stint in jail, is the black sheep in a small town military family. Sam (Tobey Maguire) is his brother’s polar opposite; clean cut and respectful, he’s a captain in the Marine Corps. A onetime football hero, who married his high school sweetheart, aptly named Grace (Natalie Portman) and has two young daughters, he’s about to ship out on another tour of Afghanistan.
As Sam sets off for the Middle East, Tommy settles in to his place in the family hierarchy. He’s well aware he can never measure up to the universally adored Sam, and this is only reiterated by attacks from their overbearing father (Sam Shepard). (The brothers have a stepmother, played by Mare Winningham, but she is pretty much background scenery.) Tommy clearly has mixed feelings about his brother. On one hand, he feels both envy and admiration; after all, he’s in a far off place, defending his country. On the other, he resents him for being the favorite son.
On the other side of the world, Sam’s job has become a living nightmare when he’s taken hostage with another soldier, both men practically left to waste away. The military, unaware of Sam’s whereabouts, assumes he’s dead, and the Cahill family is left to grieve. In the face of this tragic loss, Tommy finally begins to take some steps toward becoming a responsible adult. He rebuilds Grace’s kitchen and begins to form a close bond with her and his nieces.
Sheridan, working from a screenplay by David Benioff (The Kite Runner, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), now begins laying the groundwork for the central point of the film. The story follows two distinct paths: the emotional battle between Tommy and Grace at home and the brutal misogyny of war in a foreign land. Sometimes, Sheridan uses it to show contrast: Grace, Tommy and the girl’s ice skate while Sam is locked away. Other times, the director layers one sad setting over a frightening one, and the tension is palpable.
When Sam returns home (not a spoiler, since the trailers show it), what initially seems like it will be a happy time, become intensely heartbreaking. Sam is clearly a changed, if not broken, man and Grace and Tommy have grown closer in a way that’s never clearly explained. The message is simple: even though you survive war, it still has the power to change everything. Maguire, who lost 20 pounds to portray post-war Sam, turns his character into a wide-open wound. The weight loss emphasizes Maguire’s eyes; his choice to bulge them in fear, combined with simmering anger and verbal confusion, is downright scary as his mental state becomes more tenuous. We understand that he may snap.
While Gyllenhaal’s performance doesn’t grab a hold of you quite like Maguire’s, there’s no denying his character is going through a metamorphosis as well. He brings great confidence to each scene he’s in. Natalie Portman strikes me as an actress who’s just hitting her stride; here, she shows a wonderful ability to ride a rollercoaster of emotions without overplaying her hand.
Interestingly, a photograph in the film acts as a touching milestone, changing meaning as the story progresses. It’s a shot of Portman and Maguire as teens (composited?), looking cute, and trying hard to seem cool. As the past recedes and the future looks bleaker, the picture resonates more—much like the film itself.
Presented in 2.40:1 widescreen, the transfer here is pretty solid. In the beginning, the scenes at the Cahill home run to the darker end of the spectrum, which seems appropriate since the family is in mourning. The colors begin to brighten once Tommy has finished the kitchen and has developed a close relationship with Grace and the kids. Things in Afghanistan are largely dark, expect for the outside scenes. Wisely, the palette change with the emotions of the characters.
The audio, presented in 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital, does a fine job. With the exception of a few war related scenes (mostly involving imprisonment), this is a dialogue driven film, and that is crisp and clear throughout.
Brothers offers the following special features:
• Audio Commentary: Director Jim Sheridan discusses the cast, the fundamental difficulties in directing actors, detailing the differences in family dynamics between the United States and his homeland of Ireland, one potential distributor wanting to move one of the most integral scenes in the film to the end credits, and juggling around quite a few U2 songs for the finale, etc.
• Jim Sheridan: Film and Family (16 min.): This featurette delves into why family dynamics is such an area of interest for Sheridan and then explores Brothers’ perception of family in particular. Film and Family moves from there into the close bonds Sheridan develops with his actors, how much he enjoys working with young children, and why he doesn’t consider himself to be a visually oriented director.
• Remade in the USA: How Brødre Became Brothers (13 min): A discussion of how the Danish film was reworked into Brothers. Several clips of Brødre are shown to illustrate differences.
• Trailer (2 min): Theatrical Trailer
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