Thematically, the Brothers story (starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal) almost begs to be transposed to America. The good brother goes off to war in Afghanistan, the younger, more troubled one stays at home with his family and once the soldier returns home, nothing can ever be as it was before. If that isn't an American fable for the times, then what is?
And Jim Sheridan -- the Irish-born director behind In America -- recognizes this potential to some degree. But whether it is Sheridan, screenwriter David Benioff or both falling short, Brothers ultimately stays clear of any kind of profundity on America or the lives of American military families. Instead, the film reaches aspires toward a broader psychological/domestic drama. Which would work well enough, if the original had not put the definitive stamp on that version of the story.
None of the performers here are doing outright shoddy work. They are, however, totally outclassed by their Danish predecessors. If the English-language Brothers were your first crack at the story, which for most it probably would be, then there just isn't much of a reason to be pulled into to this world of grief and ruin.
Missing the Intense Highs and Sweet Relief, Brothers Fails To Succeed On its Own Terms
Brothers begins with Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) preparing to leave for another tour of duty in Afghanistan, leaving his wife, Grace (Natalie Portman) and two little daughters behind in Unspecified Small Town, USA. Aside from cutaway shots of American flags and mom and pop shops, there isn't really much of a sense of place going on, though it's all very nicely shot by the great cinematographer, Frederick Elmes.
The other brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), comes home from prison as Sam gets ready to leave for war. In his father's eyes (Hank, played wonderfully by Sam Shepherd), Tommy is a complete embarrassment and the old man isn't afraid to remind his son of it pretty explicitly. Grace has never been much of a fan either, at least until Tommy steps up after Sam's apparent death when his helicopter gets shot down in Afghanistan.
Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire -- Talent and Star Power Isn't Quite Enough
As painful as it is to report, of the three principles, Portman is without a doubt the weakest, especially in light of Connie Nielsen's nuanced work in the original role. She goes through the motions of sadness well enough -- crying, comforting her children, laying motionless in bed But the grieving widow is a tough cliche to turn, and Grace never really pops as a character.
She's arguably the most important part of the triangle, the emotional middle ground between Tommy's pent up emotions and Sam's eventual raging madness. Gyllenhaal brings a wonderful tinge of sadness to Tommy, who becomes something of a surrogate father to his two nieces. Brothers asks a lot of these two young actresses (Bailee Madison, Taylor Geare). Both of them handle the drama well, although the oldest (Madison) doesn't always have the chops to really deliver the intense fear she feels toward her father as he starts to slip away.
Which brings us to the real standout, Maguire, whose small physique houses a world of suffering in Brothers. His twisted expressions, guilty stares and unhinged violence gets to the heart of a damaged American psyche. He is the dirty, forgotten little secret that no one wants to remember once they discover he's damaged goods. And, unfortunately, both the character and the actor feel very much alone in Brothers.
Rehashing A Danish Film Instead of Making an American one
It's hard to gauge why exactly Sheridan and Benioff failed to build the film on this performance and its implications. This seemed like a great opportunity to explore what these new, draft-free wars mean to this country, or how it affects certain parts of America (like the anonymous small town where the Cahills live), especially because there was no way this Brothers was going to reproduce the lightning-in-the-bottle intensity of the original, except in occasional spurts.
There are a few tweaks here and there, but mostly, Benioff cribs line-for-line from the original. Which makes it incredibly difficult to recommend this Brothers in the face of the similar and better original, unless of course, you have an aversion to subtitles. Even then, why go through all this sadness if there's not much of a reward in it? The original had a sense of humor to break up all the tension -- this Brothers prefers to let the soundtrack swell in order to soften its edges.
Maguire and Shepherd excluded, the acting is mostly adequate, the direction modest and if that all puts the film slightly above par, then it doesn't exactly make it compelling either.
RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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