In early 2007, my brother-in-law shipped out for a year-long tour of duty in Iraq. Even though he didn't serve in the infantry, our family was still understandably worried about his well-being. Every day had the potential of being that fateful day of receiving horrible news. Luckily, he returned home safe and sound, but one still wonders about those having no idea what may or may have happened to those soldiers in their families.
Based on Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film of the same name, Brothers covers such territory. Though not the best war film of late covering the psychology of active troops (this summer's superlative The Hurt Locker takes that trophy), Brothers nonetheless boasts a terrific cast and delivers a hard emotional wallop.
Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is a decorated Marine and family man about to embark on his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. He's happily married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), and together they have two daughters, Maggie and Isabelle (Taylor Geare and Bailee Madison).
Days before Sam ships out, he picks up his younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), a convicted felon just released from a three-year jail sentence for armed robbery. Though Sam loves Tommy dearly, the younger Cahill is viewed with obvious contempt by their father Hank (Sam Shepard), a retired Marine who's proud of Sam, but believes that Tommy is a ne'er-do-well lost cause. Grace also views her brother-in-law in the same respect.
Tragedy strikes, however, when Grace is informed that Sam's chopper was shot down over Afghanistan, with Sam and his squad presumed dead. As Grace tries to carry on with her life and care for her daughters, Tommy unexpectedly steps up to take care of them, redeeming himself in the eyes of Hank, and especially Grace.
Unbeknownst to them, Sam and a fellow soldier actually survived the attack, and are captured by Taliban insurgents. It's there that Sam is tortured repeatedly, and ultimately forced to do unspeakable things. Eventually rescued by American forces, Sam returns home to his family, but is now a changed man. With Sam emotionally broken, paranoid, and volatile (and suspicious of infidelity between Grace and Tommy), the family dynamics are changed irreversibly.
The most unfortunate aspect of Brothers is that the subject matter at hand isn't anything new. Even though David Benioff's (The Kite Runner) screenplay is decent, the story (for the most part) barely scratches the surface of what's going on inside the characters' heads. And though director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) does a proficient job helming the picture, Brothers sometimes delves too much into melodramatics, and lacks subtlety in some scenes.
But those flaws are easily outweighed by the marvelous cast. As the Marine psychologically scarred by what he experienced as a captive of terrorists, an Oscar-worthy Tobey Maguire delivers the best performance of his career. Used to playing wide-eyed kids coming of age, here Maguire handles his character's transformation with amazing skill. In the first act, you believe him to be a loving father and a caring husband. But near the end of the second act, when Sam returns home, he's essentially a different person. Gaunt, bug-eyed, and tense, Maguire is absolutely bone-chilling as a man whose very humanity has been torn from him, and the rage, guilt, and paranoia festering inside of him explodes in a devastating climax.
As always (unless we're talking about any George Lucas movies she's been in), Natalie Portman is terrific as the wife who must start over when she believes her husband to be dead. Her character faced with loneliness, confusion, and ultimately fear when her husband returns, Portman is solid all throughout, her pain and loss very palpable. Gyllenhaal also delivers a great performance (though nowhere near as good as his role in Brokeback Mountain), though in the first third of the film, he doesn't seem too convincing as a hardened criminal. But he's much more convincing halfway through, when his character becomes more responsible and takes Sam's place as a father figure to the two girls.
And speaking of which, the best and most surprising performances come from Taylor Geare and especially Bailee Madison as the Cahill daughters (which doesn't come as a surprise, since Sheridan has a knack for getting great performances from child actors, as evidenced by 2003's In America). Their confusion and fear regarding their father after his return feels REAL. These aren't precocious performances by child stars, but rather fleshed-out, genuine, and 100% believable. In fact, the best scene in the film belongs to Madison's dinner table outburst at Maguire. The tension is so thick, you can cut it with a knife.
Despite suffering from some soap-operaish execution in certain scenes, as well as feeling too polished and conventional (especially regarding the "typical of Hollywood" ending), Brothers remains a powerful, heartbreaking, and superbly cast war drama free of politics or preachiness, but instead focusing on the horrors of war, especially on the home front.
Letter Grade: "B"
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