Tobey Maguire's BROTHERS movie review

[ntrnbk]

Brothers is the most recent of the three films, and perhaps the most mainstream. Based on a 2004 Danish movie by Susanne Bier and directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), it stars Tobey Maguire as a Marine named Sam who leaves home for Afghanistan just as his brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), returns home from jail. Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and their kids (the excellent Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare) find themselves torn between the two men: hating the father who comes back completely changed, loving the ex-con who stayed with them. The film's most powerful scene is actually set at a child's birthday party, where one of the girls won't stop rubbing a balloon to make a screeching sound. To most parents it's an everyday annoyance. To Sam the noise sounds like gunfire and serves as a reminder of how he can no longer relate to his family's happiness. It's a metaphor for his fragile psyche.

I started off thinking... "Why doesn't Peter Parker simply build a suit of armor and escape his terrorist captors?" That aside, any flippant attitude quickly is driven right from the viewer and you truly lose yourself in some magnificent performances. It's very rare for a film to meet expectations but this movie is exactly what I thought it was going to be. It's a moving character piece that stays within the boundaries of reality and offers a chance for a great cast to shine. I honestly feel both Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman deserved Oscar nominations for their work. At first, I thought Portman is too young to play the mother of two girls but by the second act, she's completely believable. Both actors reach amazing emotional depths. The film itself makes no great statement about the modern war on terror and that's the way I like it. Instead, it's a moving film about loss, family and how life itself can change anyone.

Brothers - Official Trailer [HD]