Strong performances are spoiled by overstuffed emotions in Brothers
Brothers provides pathos pathos and more pathos
Deep within a Hollywood bunker they’re welding together the final pieces of the surefire Oscar winner. Its emotions are so powerful they’ve been encased in lead and its stakes are so high they had to be titanium-reinforced. Brothers adapted from the Danish Brødre and directed by Jim Sheridan ( My Left Foot ) isn’t that movie. It is Oscar bait though plain and simple.
Following a pair of brothers hero marine Sam (Tobey McGuire) and ex-convict Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) the film is stacked precariously high with themes and subplots including such classics as an alcoholic father a loser’s second chance at life and the horrors of war. Put simply the movie is about Sam’s seeming death in Afghanistan the changes it causes in Tommy as he assumes a role in his brother’s family and the results of Sam’s return but because of its overstuffed mix of emotions and subplot it’s hard to parse it into a clear arc. While the trailers might suggest Brothers is about the confrontation between Sam and Tommy over Tommy’s relationship with Sam’s wife Grace (Natalie Portman) the movie’s final scenes relegate Tommy to the background and for good reason.
As a story about post-traumatic stress disorder however briefly played in its final two acts Brothers speaks loudly to the traumas being inflicted on thousands of American troops returning from a pair of brutal wars. McGuire’s dead-eyed returning soldier recalls Vincent D’Onofrio’s disturbing turn in Full Metal Jacket but heightens the experience by putting it in domestic circumstances. That the sexual tension between Tommy and Grace is only important as a catalyst for this anger despite their scenes taking much longer speaks to the issues in front-loading drama in pursuit of depth. McGuire and Gyllenhaal are both fine actors but there’s just too much for audiences to connect with.
Even if Brothers is intended as an Oscar vehicle for McGuire and Gyllenhaal it’s ultimately Bailee Madison playing Sam’s oldest daughter Isabelle who steals the spotlight. First struggling against her father’s inevitable deployment and then against the broken man that returns Madison delivers stunning complexity to her small role eclipsing the trio of high-profile actors who are acting so very very hard.
In watching a movie so obviously aiming at emotional heights it’s refreshing to see a performance emerge out of the periphery. As Oscar bait Brothers isn’t half bad but there’s more to drama than shouting and sex.
