courtesy impawards.com

SYNOPSIS

When a decorated Marine goes missing overseas, his black-sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home — with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family.

Brothers tells the powerful story of two siblings, thirty-something Captain Sam Cahill ( Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill ( Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, the aptly named Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters (Bailee Madison, Taylor Grace Geere). Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who’s always gotten by on wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison, at Sam’s farewell dinner with their parents, Elsie (Mare Winningham) and Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), a retired Marine.

Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk Helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At Home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming new-found responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children.

But Same is not dead; he and a fellow soldier have been captured by Taliban fighters. In Afghanistan’s harsh, remote Pamir Mountains, Sam is subjected to traumas that threaten to rob him of his very humanity. At the same time that Sam’s sense of self is being destroyed overseas. Tommy’s self-image is strengthening at home. And in the grief and strangeness of their new lives, Grace and Tommy are naturally drawn together. Their longstanding frostiness dissolves, but both are frightened and ashamed of the mutual attraction that has replaced it.

When Sam unexpectedly returns to the States, a nervous mood settles over the family. Sam, uncharacteristically withdrawn and volatile, grows suspicious of his brother and his wife. Their familiar roles now nearly reversed, Sam and Tommy end up facing the ultimate physical and mental challenge when they confront each other. In the shifting family dynamics, who will dominate? And how will the brothers come to terms with issues of love, loyalty, and manhood — and with the woman caught between them? Source: Brothers.

REVIEW

Intense is the best word to describe this movie. Even while working on Bag of Tricks, my attention did not wane from the movie and I did not miss a thing.

I thought this movie presented a good argument against war, so I especially like it. I do not think the synopsis above is accurate. While I do agree that Tommy was the black sheep, he was not the provocateur, a label better reserved for the dad. As a pacifist, it was hard for me to feel compassion for Sam and the horrors, he experienced in Afghanistan, as I am a firm believer in the Super Chicken Philosophy.

Overall, a good movie that stayed focused on the “consequences that shake down the entire family.”