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.

Un Prophete (A Prophet)

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif

Year: 2009

Genre: Crime / Drama

Rating:

Cinema-Reader – 8.2

IMDB – 8.2

FilmAffinity – 7.5

(click picture for Trailer)

Cinema-Reader Synopsis:

Tale about the life of Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim); a 19-year-old that ends up discovering how though and hopeless can be life locked down in a prison of Paris. Forced by Corsican mafia within the prison to murder a rival leader of a Muslim clan, Malik gets trapped in drugs smuggling, rivalry rows among Italians that have adopted him as a member of the clan and Muslim, which has been his identity on his life so far.

Once sides have been chosen, Malik starts building up his own side from the shadow determined to get a profit from where people just can distinguish racial clashes and hierarchical established order.

Cinema-Reader Review:

What has been considered the modern version of a classy gansta movie that set the standard of the genre decades ago (De Palma’s Scarface), this French production is a new proof of how European cinema is able to produce a wide range of film further than the stereotype set by American industry about what is the cinema made onto the old continent: sex, inner cinema and spaghetti western.

Nominated for the Golden Globe for best foreign language production, prize stolen by german The White Ribbon, this year in which all nominees were Europe production in a sign that could foresee what is about to happen in the incoming Oscar Ceremony Awards.

European cinema has become a really good manufacturer of good movies and even greater stories in the last years in which many critics consider as the new European Golden Era.

Prolific and high quality films has shown up from European soil in recent years, such as Romanzo Criminale, Gomorra, La Vita e Bella and Manuale d’amore (Italy), Laberinto del Fauno, Mar Adentro and (according to some leaving me out completely) Almodovar’s (Spain); Der Untergang, The White Ribbon, Goodbye Lenin and The Life of Others (Germany), Amelie Poulain and Le diner de Cons (France) or Let the Right One In (Norway).

Besides that I do agree that this is one of the movies of the year just gone, can be a bit hasty saying this is the heir of a film with superb moments within film history such memorable shots as Pacino’s bliss when being about to get done.

Although the plot is a bit disjoint in some part of the movie, the whole story along with a breathtaking performance achieved by Tahar Rahim make it completely disappear, evoking the viewer in a fully enjoyment of a movie that will remain as one of the greatest European production in the decade that just came to an end.

Up in the Air

Director: Jason Reitman

Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman

Year: 2009

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Rating:

Cinema-Reader – 7.6

IMDB – 8.1

FilmAffinity – 7.1

(click picture for Trailer)

Cinema-Reader Synopsis:

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has a job that forces him to be up in the air travelling throughout the country carrying with a small suitcase, and making suits of 5 stars hotels as his, sweet according to Ryan himself, home.

Living and in fact enjoying this check in-and-out life, he’ll find himself coping with something he didn’t expect, being settle in an office with 4 walls. And as result, a home.

All his beliefs and what he considers as a pretty enjoyable and fulfilled lifestyle will tremble.

As a last resort, and in order to avoid him settling in the boredom of a normal life, he will try desperately to show his young and brilliant co-worker Natalie (Anna Kendrick) that the job he does cannot be carried out from an office and through a computer.

Cinema-Reader Review:

Jason Reitman’s second piece after his first apprearence Juno, makes an approach to a modern and regular business guy trapped into a frenetic lifestyle; trips and hotel rooms, loyalty cards and on-air meals.

And carryout with this through a really well built screenplay (awarded in the last Golden Globe ceremony 2010) in which all plot developments falls into Clooney’s shoulders once again. However and even though if at first sight that might seem a lot for a single actor, the actor we are talking about is George Clooney, an actor that enjoys receiving all focus on him.

This won’t be his never forgotten performance ever, and having said I’m not a blind fan of him, is worthy acknowledging that Clooney feels more than comfy in this role, a charming and I-don’t-care-about-life cause I-got-whatever-I-want kind of character.

In fact, and focused on the race towards the Oscar, people got tired hearing about Clooney’s real chances of getting an award this year after this performance.

Nothing further than that.

If he looks just good (I repeat, just good) suited on the role is cause the script allows him to do so.

Also because the cast that comes along is gorgeous. Jason Bateman (that repeats after collaborating also in Juno with Reitman) and Anna Kendrick (that shown up in a first place with a supporting role in the Twilight Saga) make this film worth seeing and a proof that Hollywood goes further that huge budgeted blockbusters.