Review: Brothers

It’s not often you walk out of a movie theater with your stomach twisted, feeling helpless and utterly distraught, as though you just witnessed a horror unfold in front of you. But this is no horror movie, no gore filled, mindless bloody action film. What makes it so much worse is that what you just watched, in this case it’s the movie Brothers, is 100 percent authentic real life material. It’s what we hear about. It’s what we read about. And it’s what we silently cry and mourn over when the small glimpse of the effects of the Iraq/Afghan war are shown to us.

What Brothers achieved is no small feat. Every article that’s been written in the past five years about high suicide rates in the military…every article about spousal abuse and family disturbances rising…every article about how this war is literally destroying our young soldiers both inside and out, all that is shown through one family. To effectively hammer home how war can completely tear apart lives, a movie must have the ability to shake you to the core of what it’s really like. This small town, completely natural looking film did just that. I’m not saying that this film is on par with Saving Private Ryan which is an all-time classic, but if we’re measuring how well a film affects me emotionally on how horrifying the effects of war are, then consider them even.

This plot feels all too real given what we see every day, and the family dyanmic is brilliantly portrayed. (Lionsgate Films/aceshowbiz.com)

Brothers picked up so much steam after Tobey Maguire’s return from his capture overseas. It’s safe to say that the intensity picked up ten-fold when the subject of post traumatic stress disorder was shown through this soldier. But to rewind and look at the dynamics that make the movie so brilliant is to truly look at every little detail that is later revisited. First, the family has two sons: Jake Gyllenhaal’s fresh-out-of-prison character and Maguire’s proud solider character. They’re polar opposites, and the differences cut through the entire family immensely. The father, a Vietnam veteran, is brutal and cold to Gyllenhaal’s character, wishing and almost demanding he was more like his other son. Firing right back, Jake’s character – Tommy, accuses his father of being a drunk and planting the Marine “bullshit” into his brother’s head. Finally, Portman’s character, Mrs. Cahill, isn’t Tommy’s biggest fan. Phew. Ok, so with that said, the movie has you cringing and near tears from the pure dynamics of the family. Hell, Maguire hadn’t even left for war yet. Then, it happened.

When I reference “it”, I mean a particular scene in Afghanistan that will forever change Sam, Maguire’s character, for the rest of his life. It’s a scene that is brutally hard to watch, one which is so disgusting and so off-putting because it could so very well be going on in Afghanistan right now to one of our soldiers. We don’t know what really happens that makes these brave men and women completely self destruct once returning home, perhaps we never will. This scene is brutal, but honest in this way, and sets up one of the more ferocious hours of any movie I’ve seen.

While Sam is gone, the family dynamic begins to change, and in more ways that one. Tommy begins to better himself as a person, beautifully blending in as a “temporary father figure” for the two little girls the Cahills have. He helps fix the kitchen, gains respect from his father, and eventually makes amends for what he did that landed him in prison – his explanation for that may be one of that best scenes in the movie. The girls begin to love him, and he loves them in return. All this is going on while they think Sam is dead. Then, the call.

I don’t want to give it all away for what happens, but to say Sam is different would be a terrible understatement. His post traumatic symptoms are so glaring and yet so subtle at times. Maguire is magnificent playing this same man we saw in “act one” of the movie, but is 180 degrees different now. His deterioration is fast and it manifests over his paranoia that his own brother is sleeping with his wife. Perhaps the most heart wrenching scenes are those with his daughters, particularly his oldest daughter – Isabelle. Now, this young actress is 10 years old, but her performance was beyond tremendous. The pure fear of her “new” father, her thought that she is never thought of in the same light as her sister (another reason she bonded so much with Uncle Tommy), and ultimately wishing that her dad had died. A horrifying scene that grips you and shocks you at the same time.

The climax of the film is one of the most intense and heart breaking sequences in recent movie memory. Oscar nominations should be given to Maguire and Gyllenhaal, and maybe more. (Lionsgate Films/aceshowbiz.com)

The climax is so utterly brutal and nerve-wracking because it’s been building itself up brilliantly for so long. The signs of Maguire’s disorder pushing him off the edge were all there. When he finally goes off the edge, all I can say is … please, someone, nominate this man for an Oscar. I’ve never seen a more powerful five minutes executed more tremendously by all the actors involved. And again I revisit why – it feels like a news story we could read about tomorrow.

The ending is tragic even though Sam is home, and has been for some time. But that’s the point. War is never over, especially the war we fight today. So many soldiers are coming home in one piece, but destroyed completely mentally. Their lives, and the lives of their families are changed forever.

I feel as though I rushed through this review and for that I apologize, but for such an emotion packed movie, I can’t do it justice with words. It really is something to marvel at. There are three things that make it special with the first being the plot and how relevant and accurate it is to what we as an audience feel in today’s world. Second, the small facial expressions and moments that might be missed with one viewing add so much depth: the drowning story, the kisses on the back, waiting outside the bank, and so on. How about Jake Gyllenhaal’s reaction after he was told his brother was dead? You can’t act any better, you just can’t. It was so brutal to watch, and I hate to revisit that word again, but it was all so natural and real. You felt the anger, hatred, and depression set in as he did too. As mentioned the daughters, especially Isabelle, were terrific. But this brings me to the third and final reason why it was a powerhouse movie – the acting. You can’t have a movie like this with bad acting, or even mediocre acting. I don’t feel biased or over emotional when I say that Oscar nominations should absolutely be given to Jim Sheridan (director), Tobey Maguire – who played the role of his life, and Jake Gyllenhaal – who also knocked this role out of the park. The whole ensemble was just terrific and each part was as important as the next.

This movie isn’t for the weary: it’s heavy, and it truly affects you emotionally. After viewing it feels like a punch in the gut and that you just lived it. It was brilliantly made, told, and acted. I didn’t do it justice in this review, but perhaps that gives you more reason to go see it. Because I’m out of words, except for one last thing – this is the best movie of the year to this point.

BROTHERS: (out of 4)