Brothers

Powerful, thought provoking and at times disturbing, this is far from the melodrama that the initial promo reel made it out to be.

Tobey Maguire gives perhaps his best performance to date as Captain Sam Cahill, it is a challenging role that asks the audience to feel sympathy for a character put in an inhumane situation that leads him to inhumane acts. This is made even harder given the run time does not allow him enough time at the beginning of the movie to really establish a likable character before he is off to war where he is shot down and believed dead, yes we get he is a decent man and a good family guy, but there are only 2 scenes to get this point across, fortunately Maguire makes the most of both and we get the picture of his life that adds to the sadness of what happens to him.

The other two lead roles are also very well acted, Jake Gyllenhaal as Sam's ex-con loser brother is the more affable of the two brothers, he loves his brother but his brothers supposed death finally gives his life a purpose. Natalie Portman as Sam's wife Grace is convincing as the perfect wife and mother torn apart by the tragedy of war, her and the kids are collatreral damage in someone else's fight and they cling to Tommy for support and a lift, something that makes Tommy a better guy, however we don't some miraculous turnaround where he suddenly gets a stable job and becomes a perfect guy, his main effort in this area is refurbishing Grace's kitchen and hanging out with the her two young daughters, in essence filing the gap left by their father.

The movie jumps back and forth between Sam held prisoner in Afghanistan and Tommy and Grace attempting to repair their lives and raise the kids back home in the US. there are moments of warmth that you are ripped harshly from as the movie jumps back to the horrific situation Sam is in, this creates an emotional roller-coaster journey but I also felt more time was needed on the Tommy/Grace relationship to develop it further.

The third act where Sam returns home ratchets up the tension, he is damaged by the act he committed to stay alive in Afghanistan and paranoid that Tommy and Grace have been sleeping together, even though this is not true the attraction between the two is evident and when he sees them together he feels like he is watching a happy family, the happy family he wasn't able to have with them as he was always away on duty.

This all builds to an explosion at a family dinner for the birthday of the youngest of his two daughters, Isabel, the eldest, is now afraid of him and wishes Uncle Tommy was with her Mom instead, when Tommy shows up to the dinner with a girl he has just met it makes Isabel angry and she snaps at the dinner table revealing her pent up feelings, this is a fantastically natural piece of acting from a young actress and delivers the light to the powder keg that explodes when they get home, this is Maguire's moment as Sam finally snaps and while it's not a scene with great, insightful dialogue, it comes off as totally real, the rawness of the emotions of all three lead characters sear the screen.

The films wraps up without answers but just a glimmer of hope, much like real life often is. I think the movie could have done with another 20-30 minutes but it is still a fine drama with superb performances.

9/10