While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of exce... Read allWhile on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 16 nominations
- Private Joe Willis
- (as Patrick Flueger)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJake Gyllenhaal learned of the death of his close friend Heath Ledger while he was in the middle of shooting a scene for this film. Gyllenhaal immediately walked off set, and returned to finish the scene two days later. He then took a longer bereavement leave before he was ready to continue with the rest of his scenes.
- GoofsThe movie gives the location of the Marine Base as "Fort Mahlus". Only the US Army begins their bases with "Fort" (i.e. Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, etc). The US Marines begin their bases with "Camp" (i.e. Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune, etc).
- Quotes
Sam Cahill: You know what I did to fucking get back to you?
Grace Cahill: No.
Sam Cahill: You fucking bitch! You know how he fucking suffered? He fucking suffered because of you! And what have you done to my fucking house and my fucking kids, Grace? You are fucking my brother!
Grace Cahill: Sam, you know I didn't.
Sam Cahill: You are fucking my brother in my fucking house!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #17.52 (2009)
- SoundtracksRocky Mountain Man
Written by David Manzanares
Performed by David James
Published and Recorded by David Manzanares (BMI)
As the title implies, it is about two brothers, portrayed by Gyllenhaal and Maguire, whose lives have taken them to different sides of the tracks- Jake's character has recently been released from jail and Tobey is a devoted family and army man. Natalie Portman plays his lovely wife. When Tobey is sent away to Afghanistan and rapidly presumed dead, the plot thickens.
Back at home, with everybody trying to cope and go on with their lives, nothing will ever be the same. I will not write any more on the subject because although I found what happens next very predictable, you should still guess for yourselves.
The entire cast plays superbly. Tobey undergoes a massive physical transformation and looks completely emaciated as he depicts the mental decline of someone who has lived through too much horror. He shows us the mental destruction caused by war and his metamorphosis is truly scary at times. Jake is really excellent as his sincere brother, torn between passion and brotherly love, guilt and devotion. The two young girls who play Tobey and Natalie's daughters were very impressive and are earning lots of praise.
The supporting characters are less developed and the father seems to have just two states of emotion- praise and admiration for his army son and disdain for the ex-convict. This is the downside that I saw in Brothers- that it tended to oversimplify many issues and too often contented itself with merely scratching the surface. For instance, though I have never been in a war so I cannot say for sure, the Taliban scenes seemed fake to me.
Loyalty, love, faithfulness, duty, pain, grief, sorrow, joy. All of these are present in this well above average but not outstanding film.
My rating: 8 Fabio's: 7.5 Total score: 15.5 Please read more reviews at http://paulinasmovies.blogspot.com
- cl777
- Feb 15, 2010
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $26,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $28,544,157
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,527,848
- Dec 6, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $43,474,578
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1