Brothers (2009)

26 March 2010

"Brothers" was weird.  It was disappointing. But I still liked it.

The Good:

Tobey Maguire shines, I mean really shines, shines for one second like the sun shines all year long.  In Tobey's constellation are Natalie and Jake, who both give great performances with what they have to work with.  And Sam Shepard is always reliable with whatever he does.  And the girl actresses, both are young, but the movie probably wouldn't have worked without them.

The Bad:

The concept of the movie is a sound one, an interesting one.  And the execution isn't half bad.  But the whole movie feels slightly askew, like some kind of bizzaro world, not entirely our own.  First, I just can't believe the USMC would declare Tobey KIA without a body.  Second, the movie seems to have been filmed dark, so that that even day looks like morning or evening, which really adds to the bizzaro factor.  Third, towards the middle of the movie, the story seems to really fall back on tired cliche.  Last, the title of the movie is "Brothers."  But the brotherly relationship between Tobey and Jake really isn't the central relationship of the movie, which is what drew me to the movie in the first place.

The Ugly:

"Brothers" is maybe the first movie I've ever seen to depict my generation in adulthood.  Which is really depressing!

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