Brothers: And You Thought Your Family Had Issues

Whoah. Just…whoah. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen a movie that leaves you reeling when you walk out of the theater, you should probably go see “Brothers.” The story alone is crushing enough, but factor in some of the best performances by actors that I’ve seen all year and this movie – and the uneasiness it leaves behind – is sure to stick with you long after it’s over.

Tobey Maguire plays Captain Sam Cahill, a Marine living a respectable life with his high school sweetheart wife (played by Natalie Portman) and their two young daughters before he deployed for his fourth tour in Afghanistan. He was solid. He was loving. He never came back.

Upon learning that the Marine Corps presumed Sam dead after a helicopter crash, his wife Grace is left to pick up the pieces of her once recognizable life. Perhaps the only thing more stunning than her portrayal of a grieving single mother is her actual beauty – Portman is literally luminescent, even in misery. Also grieving Sam’s loss are his stepmother (played by Mare Winningham), his Vietnam veteran father (played by a perfectly stoic Sam Shepard) and his recently paroled outcast brother Tommy (played by Jake Gyllenhaal). For every good choice Sam made in life, Tommy made 5 of the opposite, leaving him branded the black sheep of his family and hardly endeared by Portman (witness the cliché neck tattoo Gyllenhaal sports to really drive the bad boy theme home). The dynamic between Sam and Tommy may seem like that of good child vs. bad child, except that it quickly becomes apparent that while Tommy’s life choices have been misguided, his core is far from rotten. Sam was the golden child, and in the wake of his loss Tommy sees his father’s unspoken regret that he buried the wrong son – the brother he could never live up to.

But Tommy surprises everyone – even himself – as he salvages his life and steps in to be there for Sam’s family. From home improvements to taking the edge off Portman’s loneliness with a little help from some much-needed pot smoking, Tommy becomes a sincere part of the family that his brother was torn away from by war.

That is, until Sam comes back.

When Sam is ultimately discovered being held captive by Afghan insurgents in a remote location and returned stateside, his family are the only ones more surprised that he is alive than Sam himself. As an audience we want to rejoice, cross our fingers and hope his transition back to his old life will be smooth, but having witnessed unthinkable horrors in his captivity we know the tidal wave of torment is quickly cresting over his head, and when it finally breaks it is obvious that Captain Sam Cahill did not return from war, someone else did. Someone so conflicted, so haunted by what he has seen and done that he is totally alienated from those he fought to come home to – especially when he thinks his brother Tommy has betrayed him and become romantic with his wife. The emotional and psychological damage Sam carries comes shooting to the surface with such intensity that often times it is hard to watch. But it is also so riveting that we dare not risk looking away.

People can attempt to sum up the message of a movie like “Brothers” by talking about how war has left many returning veterans broken in some way, unable to assimilate back into civilian life. People can argue over the effects of violence, the right or wrong of the conflict, or the collateral damage faced by so many military families after sacrificing so much. But whatever side of the issue you’re on, it is clear that for soldiers to survive in war what is often needed is a steely resolve to flip the switch, tunnel out all emotion and detach themselves to get the job done. The real question for so many, and for Sam Cahill in particular, is whether or not that switch can be flipped back and to let people in again. I don’t feign to know how to resolve that issue, nor did the movie manage to accomplish it in 2 hours either, but it isn’t supposed to. I dare say it’s less a ‘war movie’ than a movie about relationships, although the battle scars are evident in both forms.

The only thing to say for certain is that Tobey Maguire turned in the kind of performance that an actor can hang his career on, it’s that good. From losing 20 lbs to convincingly portray Cahill’s emaciated state, to the creepy look of withdrawal in his eyes he carries through the second half of the movie, Maguire is so volatile and tortured that he makes you hold your breath on more than one occasion. Gyllenhaal and Portman are equally noteworthy, as is Bailee Madison, who plays Cahill’s older daughter. If the kid is this good at ten years old, I cannot imagine the acting she will summon with maturity. It’s not all heaviness, however, there are some humorous and honest moments to break up the weight of the movie, (mostly turned in by Gyllenhaal) and they do it well.

“Brothers” is a remake based off a 2004 Danish-language film, Brødre, but I’d venture a guess that most people who want to see this film haven’t seen the original anyway. The only thing I know for sure is that the 2009 Lionsgate version – the one boasting tour de force performances by Maguire, Portman and Gyllenhaal – is not to be missed. Go see it because you like war, you hate your sibling, you don’t care to see another Sci-Fi movie, whatever. Just do yourself a favor, and go see it.

Grade: A