Film: 'Brothers' Keeper

Tobey Maguire plays the tragic Sam Cahill in “Brothers,”
a Hollywood remake of the award-winning Danish film “Brodre.”

Kathman's Review

Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and Grace (Natalie Portman) were teen-age sweethearts. She was a cheerleader; he was the quarterback. After high school, they got married and had two daughters: Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). Sam, the eldest Cahill son, followed in the footsteps of his father (Sam Shepard) Hank, by joining the Marines. Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), the youngest Cahill son, went the opposite way; he wound up in jail. “Brothers” begins with Tommy’s release from prison. Not long afterward, Sam is sent back to Afghanistan, and in his brother’s absence, Tommy comforts Grace and her girls.

This film, the English-language, Hollywood remake of the award-winning Danish film “Brodre,” is a lot of things in one. On the one hand, it’s about the redemptive power of love, family and forgiveness. On the other, it’s a socio-political commentary on a government that’s keen to send boys to war but isn’t willing to handle their often troubled mental states when they return. Just in case you are thinking, “Oh, here we go again,” the truth of the matter is that screenwriter David Benioff doesn’t just waggle his finger at the Obama or Bush administrations, but by including the character of Hank, an alcoholic Vietnam Vet, he shows us that nothing has changed in the last 40-plus years. Men go to war and witness atrocities. When they come home, they are expected to pick up right where they left off: being loving fathers and husbands. But what if that isn’t possible? What happens when the soldier comes back, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or another mental health condition, and he has nowhere to turn? Does he kill himself? Kill others? Both seem to be happening with alarming regularity. As one news source recently reported, suicides in the Army are expected to top last year’s total of 140. And 2008 marked the first time the Army’s suicide rate was higher than that of the civilian population. “Ripped from the headlines” … I think that’s how you might refer to “Brothers.” It’s a sobering, solemn affair. That isn’t to say that the film doesn’t have some lighter moments. It does with most of them coming courtesy of the young girls, who are unusually adorable; and a trio of Tommy’s home remodeling friends, played by Ethan Suplee, Arron Shiver and Ray Prewitt.

I’m usually one to blast Hollywood remakes of foreign films, but “Brothers” has quality behind it. Benioff is an intelligent screenwriter who also penned “Stay,” one of my favorite films, and “The Kite Runner.” Jim Sheridan, the Irish genius behind such fare as “The Field” and “In the Name of the Father,” directs. Put Portman, Maguire and Gyllenhaal in a film, and you find yourself facing a trifecta of talent. Portman portrays Grace as a maternal and down-to-Earth woman who also happens to be a classical stunner. Maguire draws upon his inherent charm to create, in the beginning, a character who is the quintessential loving father and husband, but as the film progresses becomes more disturbed, suspicious and rage-filled. It’s a brilliant, terrifying performance. With his many tattoos and bad boy attitude, Gyllenhaal starts out as a man who might earn your contempt – Grace initially hates him – but as he spends more and more time with Grace and her children, he softens into a lovable, and in many ways, tragic character. (We can see how his father’s high expectations have affected Tommy’s outcome.) Mare Winningham, the “dowdiest” but most talented of the Brat Packers, gives a noteworthy performance as Elsie, Sam and Tommy’s mother; as does Patrick Flueger, who plays Private Joe Willis. Fans of the short-lived TV series “The 4400” will recognize him as the healer known as Shawn Farrell. Some might slight “Brothers” for being melodramatic, when, in fact, it might not go far enough. All you have to do is think of the recent shooting in Fort Hood to realize how heartbreaking everything has become.