Brothers

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 (USA) / 2009 12 04 (USA)

UPC: 031398119258

Studio: Lionsgate

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Profanity]

Summary: Jim Sheridan's film, adapted from Susanne Bier's 2004 movie, concerns Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire), a Marine who receives orders to ship out for yet another tour of duty in Afghanistan. But before he leaves his supportive wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his two elementary-school-age daughters, Sam picks up his black sheep brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has finished a prison stretch for robbing a bank. While overseas, Sam's aircraft gets shot down and he's thought dead. Back home, irresponsible Tommy gets his act together in order to be an anchor for Grace and the girls, and the two grow emotionally -- though not physically -- close. As the family finally begins to make peace with their grief, soldiers rescue POW Sam and he returns home. Sam's experiences overseas have caused him such emotional turmoil, he has a difficult time adjusting to civilian life, and soon his fear and paranoia manifest themselves in the form of jealousy for his brother's relationship with his wife. Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham co-star as the brothers' father and stepmother. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: cc
Feature audio commentary by director Jim Sheridan
Remade on the USA: How Br?dre Become Brothers
Jim Shredan: Film and family

Brothers

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 03/23/2010

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 105 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Brothers
1. Leaving Again
2. Family Dinner
3. Second Home
4. Knock at the Door
5. Saying Goodbye
6. Taken Captive
7. Pancakes
8. Be Present
9. Painting Party
10. Stay Strong
11. Winter Fun
12. Breathe Again
13. You or Him
14. Under Siege
15. Welcome Home
16. You Can Tell Me
17. A Good Man
18. Nobody Understands
19. Lucky to Be Alive
20. Table Manners
21. Going to Be Better
22. Drowning
23. The Only Thing I Know
24. The End of War

Perry Seibert

If a hundred years of cinematic history have taught us anything about combat, it's that war is hell. Brothers is one of those movies that wants to make sure we understand how returning from that hell can be even more difficult that living in it. Jim Sheridan's film, adapted from Susanne Bier's 2004 movie, tells a melodramatic tale we've seen many times before. Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) has orders to ship out for yet another tour of duty in Afghanistan. But before he leaves his supportive wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his two elementary-school-age daughters, Sam picks up his black sheep brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has finished a prison stretch for robbing a bank. While overseas, Sam's aircraft gets shot down and he's thought dead. Back home, irresponsible Tommy gets his act together in order to be an anchor for Grace and the girls, and the two grow emotionally -- though not physically -- close. As the family finally begins to make peace with their grief, soldiers rescue POW Sam and he returns home. Up to this point, Brothers is a serviceable, fairly low-key family drama. David Benioff's script hammers home the subtext -- there are lines of dialogue that practically scream out the movie's themes -- and because of this the characters sometimes feel more like symbols than real people. However, the hard-working cast and the sensitive direction help temper that flaw. The antagonistic dynamic between heavy-drinking Vietnam vet father Hank (Sam Shepard) and Tommy gives the two actors some rich scenes to play out, and they do so with surprising understatement considering the weight of the drama. Gyllenhaal and Portman also score points by playing their slowly evolving relationship without movie-star glamour -- you don't long for them to kiss because they're so damn attractive, but because they've gone through so much together. But it's when Sam returns, changed deeply by his brutal experiences, that Brothers sets itself apart. Maguire looks gaunt and haunted; he really does begin to resemble a ghost -- but a ghost who slowly becomes more and more capable of violent acts. As his guilt, fear, and stress mutate into neurotic jealousy of Tommy's relationship with Grace, the daughters would rather be around Uncle Tommy -- setting up a vicious cycle that builds sickening emotional momentum. When tensions finally explode at a birthday party for the oldest daughter, the realism is electrifying. As Sam's post-traumatic stress disorder eats away at him, Maguire brings to mind Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver -- and that's fitting, as Travis Bickle might be the best example of PTSD ever filmed. Sheridan forces us to watch Sam's raw pain, but -- with one glaring and problematic exception involving the cops -- he doesn't turn it into something operatic or grandiose. This is the kind of movie that sticks with you, where you remember the great stuff and forgive the faults because the focus it brings to its difficult subject is unflinching and honest. If good art asks questions, Brothers is asking the right ones about the toll of war on human beings. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Michael De Luca  Producer 
Thomas Newman  Composer (Music Score) 
Jim Sheridan  Director 
Sigurjon Sighvatsson  Producer 
Tucker Tooley  Executive Producer 
Jon Feltheimer  Executive Producer 
David Benioff  Screenwriter 
Ryan Kavanaugh  Producer 
Zach Schiff-Abrams  Executive Producer 
Scott Fischer  Executive Producer 
Tobey Maguire  Actor 
Jake Gyllenhaal  Actor 
Natalie Portman  Actor 
Sam Shepard  Actor 
Clifton Collins, Jr.  Actor 
Mare Winningham  Actor 
Bailee Madison  Actor 
Taylor Geare  Actor 
Patrick Flueger  Actor 
Carey Mulligan  Actor 
Omid Abtahi  Actor 
Navid Negahban  Actor 
Ethan Suplee  Actor 
Aaron Shiver  Actor 
Ray Prewitt  Actor 
Rebekah Wiggins  Actor 
Carrie Fleming  Actor 
Jenny Wade  Actor 
Sheila Ivy Traister  Actor 
Chad Brummett  Actor 
Jason Hill  Actor 
Kevin Wiggins  Actor 
Yusef Azami  Actor 
James Dever  Actor 
Kevin Adkins  Actor 
Johnnie Hector  Actor 
Jeremiah Bitsui  Actor 
William L. Allen  Actor 
Benjamin Baldwin  Actor 
Richard Wade  Actor 
Luce Rains  Actor 
Enayat Delawary  Actor 
Rick Lamonda  Actor 
Paul Ramos  Actor 
Shawn Bryan  Actor 
Oscar Meija  Actor 
David Bachelor  Actor 
Zachary Grand  Actor 
Michael David Aragon  Actor 
Iris Dunbar  Actor 
Justin Marmion  Actor 
Robert Mitchell  Actor 
Collin D. Barry  Actor 
Janet Sanford  Actor 
Casey Sanford  Actor 
Gary Moore  Actor 
Eric Steinig  Actor 
Colleen Frye  Actor 
James Duffy  Actor 
David Manzanares  Actor 
Michael Castellano  Actor 
Carol A. Salazar  Actor 
Wendell Sweet  Actor 

Country: USA