Brothers (2009)

USA

105 mins.

Directed by Jim Sheridan

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Carey Mulligan, Patrick Flueger

I haven't seen the original Danish version of Brothers yet, but now I'm interested to see how different the two are in comparison. This version is nothing special, but should be remembered for three strong performances hampered by unsure direction and an unfocused script.

If you're not hip to the story yet, Sam (Tobey Maguire) is a Marine officer getting ready to go back to Afghanistan and Grace (Natalie Portman) is his childhood sweetheart wife anxious about him deploying yet again. They have two adorable girls and everything seems fine on the surface. Before Sam leaves, he picks his brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) up from jail. Their relationship is a tad strained but still better than the one Tommy has with Grace or his father (played by the great Sam Shepard). The family dynamic at play between all the principals is well done, but teeters close to melodrama a few times too many.

Sam's chopper is hit by a few RPG's en route to a landing zone and most of the crew is killed in the blast or in the crash immediately after. There are only two survivors: Sam and Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger). Unfortunately, they are kidnapped by terrorists and presumed dead by the military. Grace has to deal with her husband's death and Tommy has to come to terms with never getting a chance to truly reconnect with his brother. What follows is somewhat predictable but not unwelcome. Tommy grows closer to Grace and the kids while Sam is shown trying to survive a particularly horrific gig as a prisoner of war. The guilt he carries from being forced to do something especially heinous combined with the stress of being a POW leads to him shuffling around like a hollowed-out zombie when he returns.

Grace and Tommy want to know what happened while the kids are scared of a seemingly doppelganger dad and are much more willing to see Tommy as their father figure. Sam is convinced Grace and Tommy are sleeping with each other (not quite) and becomes increasingly erratic in his behavior (like rearranging glasses in a cupboard with a gun).

Thankfully the movie doesn't decide to go down the path of ultra-pathos like I half-expected it to for a moment there. There are some well-crafted and tense scenes like a taut birthday party that feels ready to explode at any moment. The closing moments are a little anticlimactic considering what's come before it and Gyllenhaal's role is given quite the short shrift in the end considering how crucial he is to the story earlier on. A subplot concerning Tommy and the reason he was in jail in the first place goes nowhere after a throwaway scene and some exposition. I really can't stand writers who feel the need to throw something in there like that and fail to develop it fully. Why even bother? Another failed subplot deals with Private Willis's wife (Carey Mulligan) and child. It's just not hashed out enough for anyone to care.

So, come for the performances and stay for... well... the performances. Portman and Gyllenhaal are both very good and Maguire is simply exceptional at playing a tortured husk of a man who can't relate to home life at all after experiencing the limits of sanity.

I'd like to say Jim Sheridan knows better, but his last two films were the mistake Get Rich or Die Tryin' and the overrated melodrama In America. His days of Irish masterpieces are long behind him. The Boxer and In the Name of the Father are things of beauty to behold and My Left Foot isn't too shabby either. Brothers is a push for him, neither great nor awful.

I always thought Gyllenhaal was the better actor out of the two, but now Maguire proves he's got some serious talent himself. Here's hoping we see more excellent work from all three in the future. Preferably in movies with more cohesive scripts.

lMC