“Siblings At War”
Unexpected. How else can you describe it? An Irishman, Jim Sheridan, directs an English-language adaptation of the Danish movie “Brodre” by Susanne Bier about the emotional toll of the war in Afghanistan on a family, and turns it into one of the best American films of the year. It’s a small world after all!
The effects of war on humanity have no borders. Both the American and Danish versions deal with the war in Afghanistan and the two films are equally as effective. The feelings are universal.
In this new version, Tobey Maguire leaves his wife, played by Natalie Portman, and their two young daughters, to go fight in Afghanistan. At the same time his brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, is released from prison after serving a sentence for armed robbery. Their father, powerfully played by Sam Shepard, is supportive of Maguire’s service to his country, but relentlessly disapproving of Gyllenhaal. The tension between them is often as thick as freshly laid cement.
When Maguire is believed to have been killed in action, Gyllenhaal puts the moves on Portman and becomes a beloved uncle for her two little girls. Then Maguire turns up alive and the sibling rivalry leads to a shattering climax. Nothing you have ever seen Tobey Maguire in will prepare you for the explosive performance he gives in this film’s second half.
“Brothers” feels like a film in two halves. The first half seems pretty conventional as it establishes all the characters and their relationships. We also see the pain and torture Maguire endures while being held captive in Afghanistan. But the film’s second half begins when Maguire returns home. It literally becomes another film. A complete U-turn! Now it’s a deep psychological character study of a man who is unable to mentally process what he has just been through. He has physically returned to his old life, but he is a profundly different person. Like a short-fuse firecracker that could explode at any moment. Maguire’s performance in this part of the film is stunning.
Jim Sheridan knows how to get the most from stories involving dramatic conflict within familes. His earlier films “The Field” and “In America” are evidence of this. But “Brothers” may well be his most accomplished work to date.
DVD Double Feature: In 2007’s “Grace Is Gone”, John Cusack plays the widowed father of two young girls who is unable to tell his daughters that their mother has been killed at war in the middle east. Cusack’s dramatic yet restrained performance is one of the best and most heartfelt of his career.
