Brothers Review

Director: Jim Sheridan Screenplay: David Benioff Cast: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Bailee Madison Time: 104min Age Restriction: 13LV

Genre

Thriller/Drama

Summary Review

Brothers is a tight and well-crafted film about the harrowing effects of war, not only on soldiers, but also on their families. 

Synopsis

Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is a US Marine fighting in Afghanistan in 2007. One day the army chopper he's flying in crashes and all the occupants are presumed dead.

Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), Sam's brother, freshly released from prison does his best to help Sam's beloved wife, Grace, played by Natalie Portman, and his two young daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison in a Golden Globe-nominated performance) and Maggie, deal with their grief. The situation gets complicated when it turns out that Sam's not dead after all. 

Brothers is a tense and atmospheric film handled with empathy and grace. If you go to the cinema for escapism, you won't enjoy it, because it is one big dose of realness, dealing with real horrible circumstances and real human people. The beauty of it is that it doesn't milk the emotions or draw out the difficult scenes; it deftly sets the tone and then moves on.