Review: Brothers

I went to see Brothers with some girl friends last night.  This is a very difficult movie for me to review at the moment.  The acting was great, but I left the film with a bad taste in my mouth.  It may have just been the subject matter it was focused on.  I had never seen the trailer for this film, so I was unsure of what I was in for, even though friends were able to give me a brief synopsis.  The leading cast was great, though my personal displeasure of Tobey Maguire may have had an impact on my outlook.  I will attempt to approach this film without personal bias.  I will also not reveal any spoilers, as anyone who had seen the trailer (which I had watched after seeing the movie) will have the basic idea of what this film is about.  Read on...

Review

This film embarks on the story of Sam Cahill (Maguire) and the impact his supposed death, and then return from being a POW has on his family.  There is some romantic tensions between the Sam's wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and her brother-in-law Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal).  This is not the central theme of the movie as one might have derived.  The movie more focuses on the emotional roller coaster this family goes through as they find out Sam is dead, and then find out he is not dead.  He returns a changed man, and this creates tension with his family.  He is also highly suspective of what may have happened between Grace and Tommy while he was away.  

 

The cast manages to portray these emotions superbly.  Even the little girls were so convincing in their roles.  There is some debate of some lines the eldest child had that seemed too mature for her, but I think people tend to forget how intuitive children really are.  I found these girls did an amazing job.  This film will having you laughing and smiling for a moment, and then crying the next.  I truly felt as though these were real people.

 

The subject matter for this film is intense.  I do not know whether or not the director had some political agenda, nor do I care.  The truth of the matter is that these things do happen in war, and they affect the people in a way that civilians will probably never understand.  I had a hard time not being angry at Sam for his actions, but at the same time knew that when somebody returns from war going through what he had, they are a different person.  He may have been alive physically, but the Sam that left never came back from Afghanistan.  4 out of 5 stars.