Brothers

Tobey Maguire has some serious acting chops. Natalie Portman can act when she has a better script than Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace. I think the last Jake Gyllenhaal film I saw was The Day After Tomorrow, so I wasn’t too sure about him. But I expected to see some stellar acting in this movie, and I wasn’t disappointed. Portman’s understated expression of a wife and mother grieving was masterful, and Maguire and Gyllenhaal embodied the desire for redemption with haunted gazes and agitated movements. But in the end they were all out-acted by a ten-year-old! Bailee Madison stole every scene she was in, squeezing raw emotions past her chubby, childlike features.

The movie is shot in a washed-out sort of style that conveys the coldness of a Midwestern winter even as it aids the stark portrayal of the characters’ emotions. This movie somehow manages not to be a “downer” even as it deals with serious issues. More than anything, I felt it was a brief window of time letting us see into a real family’s life.

Brothers won’t set any box office records, nor does it push the envelope of originality or epic drama. Yet with its spot-on acting and its powerful themes of familial love, familial dysfunction, infidelity, redemption, war, aggression, and love, this movie is worthwhile for those of you who are interested in psychology, character studies, or family relationships.

NOTE: Brothers is not a “chick flick.” Both guys and girls will like it.