Brothers is an American remake of a Danish film by the same name. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman. And its pretty awesome. Its also nothing like I thought it was going to be which I thought was cool. If you have those three actors in a movie, regardless of the subject matter of the film, its going to be pretty dang good. I mean, those 3 don't mess up very much.
Brothers is about human relationships to its very core. Its about husband and wife, mother and child, father and child, friendship, but most importantly, brotherhood. Tobey Maguire plays Sam, a Johnny All-America type guy. A great father, a great husband, a great son, a great brother and a great soldier. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tommy as is Sam's brother and is basically the total opposite of his brother. The film opens with him getting out of prison and you learn very quickly how NOT like Sam Tommy actually is. Natalie Portman rounds out the trio as Grace, Sam's wife and mother to their 2 young daughters. While Sam is fighting in the Middle East, his helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. All of his family grieves for him. Tommy then steps in and helps Grace and the kids get through the hard times and in doing so, finds the good in himself that he had lost. Grace, Tommy and the girls develop a bond during all this and form a kind of de facto family. Well, Sam isn't dead after all, and finally makes his way home but not without suffering through some terrible atrocities that scar his soul and his psyche deeply. He is not the same man that he was, and because of that there is some very serious tension.
I thought this movie was absolutely great. Every scene is played brilliantly by all involved. It is slow and methodical but you are never bored. The actors create a tension between each other, that, depending on the scene, is either good or bad, and this in turn makes you constantly wonder what is going to happen next. I was glued to the screen. I don't even like Tobey Maguire at all, but I thought he was brilliant in this, and had some of the best scenes I've seen in a while in this movie. If you were like me and read that Jake Gyllenhaal was playing the scum bag, ex-felon, loser brother, and was like "what?? That's bad casting" then you will really see why he got the part. He plays the part with a subtle vulnerability, that only he could embody I think. You forgive him for everything bad that he does and you really believe in his transformation. Of course there's Natalie Portman, who I re-fell in love with. She can really do no wrong if you ask me, and you really feel every thing that she feels in this movie.
If you like deeply felt movies with amazing performances, you'll like this one. And honestly, who's going to say they don't like to see movies like that. It's a heavy flick, so you are warned about that, but it is really good all the same. It is a tear jerking movie and in the end, the message that family bonds and the love for your family is still stronger than anything that can be thrown at a person, is very comforting and heart warming. I recommend you all see this one, just see it when you are in the mood to be moved emotionally.
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