A Review of Brothers

So school is out for the holidays.  Expect a few more reviews from me in the coming months, as I've been doing a lot of movie watching.  Most recently, I caught Jim Sheridan's Brothers at The Grand here in Hattiesburg.  (Note: I tried seeing The Road in Harahan, Louisiana.  Advice: Do not try to see a movie on a rainy day anywhere near New Orleans.  Trust me.)

I think the previews did a disservice to this picture.  I immediately thought this had the potential to be a a spin-off of the really bad elements of the dreadful Pearl Harbor: husband is assumed dead, brother moves in for some loving, gets it, husband's not dead, conflict unfolds.  To my relief, Brothers has a lot more to offer the viewer than a bad version of a plot device used in a terrible movie.  

The film involves two brothers, Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhall).  The two are opposites, Sam being a structured, disciplined, family-oriented Marine, and Tommy a wild, tattooed, ex-con, albeit with a good enough heart.  The other major players in this movie are Sam Shepard (Pulitzer Prize winner of Buried Child and a host of other accomplishments) as the brothers' father Hank Cahill, and the lovely Natalie Portman as Sam's wife, Grace Cahill.  

The initial conflict stems from Sam's redeployment to Afghanistan.  He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, and Tommy, who is fresh out of prison.  One of the most intense scenes involves Tommy's first dinner with the family since his parole--one of Sam's final dinners before he is deployed.  Hank, a former military man himself, is clearly proud of Sam's choice of a career in the U.S. Marines, and is openly disdainful of Tommy's reckless past.  The tension produced between Hank and Tommy is authentic, and overall Sheridan did a fine job of maintaining this tension for the movie's duration.

Things are further complicated once Sam is deployed.  Aside from being a solid dramatic film, Brothers appears to have something to say about the psychological damage of war.  When Sam's team is shot down by a band of Islamic fundamentalists, he and a companion, Joe, are taken as prisoners.  They are starved, tortured, and commanded to participate in a propaganda film.  Initially, Sam remains calm, while Joe unravels.  With time, however, Sam's mental stability begins to fade, and the results are brutal.  Once again, this particular portion of the film was one of the most powerful.

Sam is declared dead.  Once the family mourns his loss and accepts his disappearance, Tommy steps in as a father figure to Sam's two daughters.  Jake Gyllenhall shines in this portion of the movie as Tommy Cahill.  He is charming, convincing, and sincere.  In Sam's absence, Tommy is no longer forced into the shadow of his brother.  He develops as a person, contributing something to society, serving his loved ones, and honing in on his talent and interests.  Hank is forced to acknowledge his son's good work, and there is mending between father and son.  Sam Shepard also has his moments in this film, the acting good and solid.  It's easy to see why Grace feels attraction to Tommy.  The two daughters fall pretty in love with him, causing a good deal of tension for Sam once he returns home.  The previews don't do justice to this part of the movie.  I won't spoil it for you, but I will say it contains more depth and enjoyment than the previews indicate.

The second half of the film focuses on Sam's return home.  Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" comes to mind.  Like that short story's protagonist, Sam is expected to return from his traumatic experience and resume his role within "the norm."  However, in this story, there's a bit more at stake.  He exudes many of the symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Sam is also unable to function away from the war, and is more interested in getting back into combat than being with his loved ones.  The drama and pain that unfolds is convincing and pretty remarkable.  The film contained an ending I didn't foresee, making the movie a less predictable story than its previews depict.  Stories like this have a tendency to fall into the Lifetime movie melodrama trash heap.  Not so with this movie.

Brothers isn't flawless.  There are scenes I think could have been cut back, certain situations that are less likely to happen in modern life.  Overall, however, the film remains afloat due to the solid performances of the cast, and the interesting story that the previews don't hint at.  Not a bad movie, and certainly worth your eight bucks at the box office.