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Old 12-04-09, 11:59 PM
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Brothers

I didn't see a thread on this. I saw the movie tonight. I thought it was pretty intense.
Old 12-05-09, 01:43 AM
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Re: Brothers

Interesting..I was going to go see this today but decided against it since I hadn't seen other DVDtalkers posting on it.

I saw 2012 again for the 2nd time....yes..I'm a sucker for long popcorn flicks that are absurd.


So how was this? I'm thinking about catching it over the weekend.
Old 12-05-09, 01:44 AM
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Re: Brothers

it's in my top priority list to watch
Old 12-05-09, 02:23 AM
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Re: Brothers

Come on peeps..needs some reviews that aren't professional reveiewer related
Old 12-05-09, 05:16 AM
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Re: Brothers

I've seen the original, and I thought the trailer was great - but it's only part of the real story behind the movie.

In short, you must see this movie. It's fantastic. The performances are fantastic on every level. The trailer fools you into thinking that the "affair" between the brother and his sister-in-law is the focus of the movie, and what ultimately pushes Toby Maguire's character to the edge. It's not. It's something much more powerful, moving, and resonating with our time. It's also something that resonates with history as well. It's a must see movie, a war movie I would place alongside Saving Private Ryan, Glory, Tora Tora Tora!, etc etc as one of the best war movies in history.

However, like all good war movies, this is one seriously fucked up movie. It is incredibly hard to watch at times. And you will probably cry buckets.

Last edited by Superboy; 12-05-09 at 05:23 AM.
Old 12-05-09, 09:27 AM
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Re: Brothers

Originally Posted by Superboy
I've seen the original, and I thought the trailer was great - but it's only part of the real story behind the movie.

In short, you must see this movie. It's fantastic. The performances are fantastic on every level. The trailer fools you into thinking that the "affair" between the brother and his sister-in-law is the focus of the movie, and what ultimately pushes Toby Maguire's character to the edge. It's not. It's something much more powerful, moving, and resonating with our time. It's also something that resonates with history as well. It's a must see movie, a war movie I would place alongside Saving Private Ryan, Glory, Tora Tora Tora!, etc etc as one of the best war movies in history.

However, like all good war movies, this is one seriously fucked up movie. It is incredibly hard to watch at times. And you will probably cry buckets.
The acting was amazing from all 3 main actors, Jake, Toby, and Natalie! You definitely lay down exactly what I was going to say. The part that just took me by suprise was
Spoiler:
When Toby had to kill his marine partner while being held hostage. I was not expecting that
Old 12-05-09, 11:00 AM
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Re: Brothers

Originally Posted by JTp8ntball
The acting was amazing from all 3 main actors, Jake, Toby, and Natalie! You definitely lay down exactly what I was going to say. The part that just took me by suprise was
Spoiler:
When Toby had to kill his marine partner while being held hostage. I was not expecting that
After seeing such a tepid performance in the Star Wars movies, it was nice seeing such a powerful performance from Natalie Portman. Toby Maguire has so much more dimension than people give him for. Really intense. I know Jake Gyllenhaal can act, and he manages this part wonderfully with that same subdued, yet transitive quality he brings to every movie he's in.

and as for the spoiler...

Spoiler:
When watching the original, it shocked me. It was intense, and laid the groundwork for what is probably one of the best dramatic climaxes i've ever seen in a movie.

I'm glad the trailer gave a "false impression" in this case. It was wonderful. Enough to draw in the audience, but not enough to spoil the movie.
Old 12-05-09, 11:01 AM
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Re: Brothers

Oh, and if you're going to see this movie and don't know the plot... Don't read the spoilers.
Old 12-06-09, 03:32 AM
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Re: Brothers

This definitely looks like a case of good movie, awful trailer. I saw the trailer in front of two different films and both times, the audience laughed at it.
Old 12-06-09, 05:44 AM
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Re: Brothers

I admit, the "flip out" at the end could easily be laughable in a trailer. I guess I didn't find it funny because I understood the true context.
Old 12-06-09, 10:12 PM
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Re: Brothers

I'm probably going to see the tomorrow afternoon. I saw the trailer in the theaters a few months back and a couple of people laughed at the dinner table scene with the little girl. I have read some good reviews about it.
Old 12-07-09, 10:32 AM
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Re: Brothers

hey I saw this movie this weekend and thought that the acting was poor. Tobey Maguire was weak in the beginning but soon became a more dynamic character. Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhal were both ok. Good story and plot but it just seemed very over acted
Old 12-07-09, 10:38 AM
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Re: Brothers

There are many good ones working in cinema today, but my favorites are Samuel L. Jackson and Morgan Freeman.
Old 12-07-09, 11:32 AM
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Re: Brothers

All three leads do a great job with the material given. If it wasn't for them, the movie would've been a complete bore. A pretty safe film when you think about the circumstances/situations shown. I wish it would've taken more chances. What I got was a Lifetime movie, IMHO.
Old 12-07-09, 02:42 PM
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Re: Brothers

Originally Posted by Groucho
There are many good ones working in cinema today, but my favorites are Samuel L. Jackson and Morgan Freeman.
Old 12-12-09, 09:42 PM
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Re: Brothers

Great film overall. I thought the kids did a hell of a job, especially the girl from Terabithia.

I also wasn't expecting
Spoiler:
Maguire to kill his partner. A huge holy shit moment.


I could definitely feel the tension building during the
Spoiler:
dinner table scene in the last act. From that point on, I thought it was emotionally intense
Old 12-13-09, 04:36 AM
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Re: Brothers

it's my newly fave movie this year after Inglourious Basterds, (500) Days of Summer, Drag Me to Hell and Orphan.
Old 12-13-09, 04:46 AM
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Re: Brothers

I saw it with a few marine buddies and they both cried like buckets. It's sad because they both went through similar situations after getting back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Although their situation was nowhere near as traumatizing, they both had PTSD. One of my buddies would always go shooting with me but hates it now, and doesn't like being near heavy stimuli. The other tends to flip out and have violent episodes when he's stressed out.
Old 12-13-09, 11:03 AM
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Re: Brothers

Director Jim Sheridan helms this remake from an earlier Danish effort, with a cast featuring Tobey Maguire (Sam), Natalie Portman (Grace) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Tommy). Sam and Tommy are brothers, with Sam being a career marine on his way to another tour of duty in Afghanistan, while Tommy is paroled from prison before Sam's deployment. Their father was also a marine officer, and is proud of Sam, and dismissive of Tommy's past actions.

Sam is shot down in Afghanistan and presumed dead, and the sobering news hits his family hard. Tommy picks up the slack, helping out with Sam's family, being a good uncle to Sam's 2 young daughters. Sam and a private from the same town as Sam survive as prisoners. Sam eventually escapes capture, but is haunted by his time spent imprisoned, and his return to his family is only a temporary relief to his soul, and storms are a-brewing in Sam's headspace.

The performances by the main trio are uniformily good with unsentimental undercurrents, with Maguire pulling a lot of the dramatic weight from his character's journey into and out of war. Gyllenhaal and Portman provide solid framework for their characters who find themselves intertwined under the worst of war situations for their family.

Viewers will no doubt see where the road heads for this complicated triangle between the 2 brothers and Sam's wife, it doesn't undermine the dramatic tension between them, nor undercuts the cost of war on a personal level for each and every solider who returns from battle.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

Last edited by Patman; 12-13-09 at 11:05 AM.
Old 12-13-09, 11:09 AM
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Re: Brothers

Originally Posted by JTp8ntball
I didn't see a thread on this.
Did you look for one?

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...yllenhaal.html
Old 12-14-09, 01:04 AM
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Re: Brothers

The wife and I went and saw Brothers this afternoon.

Like others here, I found the trailer made the movie look really bad; just another love-triangle movie.

It was WAY better (and different!) than the trailer suggests. For those that haven't seen it, I give it a very high recommendation. Tobey Maguire. Holy shit. I'm not a fan of him at all, but his performance was fantastic.

Now for a few comments on some of the spoilerific stuff.
Spoiler:

- The kids were really good. Very believable, especially the older girl during the dinner scene. Not surprising that she'd lie to her father's face like that, given how she was feeling.
- Sam (Tobey) coming home, only to see the wife of the marine he killed with a pipe. Wow.
- I was surprised that there wasn't actually an affair (given how the trailer suggested it), other than the one kiss. That said, I'm glad that that's how the story went, because that lets the audience focus on the real problem; Sam's post-traumatic stress.
- I didn't expect Sam to tell his wife about killing the other marine. I thought it'd be something he'd take to his grave. Not out of humiliation or regret, but because he wouldn't want civilians (ie: his family) knowing what kind of things happen.


4/5 for me.
Old 06-18-10, 12:01 AM
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Re: Brothers

Got this from Netflix today and HOLY SHIT what an amazing film. As great as the performances and journeys the characters took (even that of the father), I literally saw my own daughters represented perfectly in the kids here. Ages, roles, and attitudes. The birthday party scene at the end had a fantastic overtone of history repeating itself with the "sisters" as their own father came back from his war changed and you could see Isabelle taking the Tommy role going forward.

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