Brothers

Director: Jim Sheridam


Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire


Year: 2009


Genre: Drama


Rating:



Cinema-Reader – 6.6
IMDB – 7.5
FilmAffinity – 6.7

(click picture for Trailer)

Cinema-Reader Synopsis:

Sam (Tobey Maguire) is a Capt. Of the marine happily married with his very first girlfriend of high school Grace (Natalie Portman) which next destination is Afghanistan.
Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an ex-con that goes back home just on time to give a farewell to his brother Sam.

All their lifes fall apart in the same moment in which Sam results involves in a chopper crash after a rebel attach in the middle of the dessert.

Grace finds herself as a single mother, alone and dived into a bottomless sorrow.
Tommy will have to face something that scares him even more than prison, responsibility.
And Sam, taken as hostage by an hostile Taliban guerrilla and deemed as dead in a first place, will be back with his family. However something is missing…


Cinema-Reader Review:

Once again Hollywood takes Afghanistan as apex around which develops a love story with war as background.
However, Irish director Jim Sheridam (In America, The Boxer, In the Name of the Father) tries with Brothers to go further than other movies with same story background (Hurt Locker, Jarhead…) digging into the side effects of the war how disturbing war can be and how deeply changes the life not only of contenders but their relatives and family.

With amazing performances, I felt however a lack of something within. Toby Maguire is incredible on his role of tormented soldier but unbelievably wasted as well. I would have appreciated a bit more of lights focused on him as his character is full of meaningful for the whole plot of the movie as he changes when his family does.

Movie looking for the easy tear that if missed out, won’t be the end of the world.