Brothers

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

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

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Features:
  • cc
  • Feature audio commentary by director Jim Sheridan
  • Remade on the USA: How Brodre Become Brothers
  • Jim Shredan: Film and family

AWARDS

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Original Song - 2009 (Bono, U2)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - 2009 (Tobey Maguire)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Tobey Maguire - Capt. Sam Cahill
       Jake Gyllenhaal - Tommy Cahill
       Natalie Portman - Grace Cahill
       Sam Shepard - Hank Cahill
       Clifton Collins, Jr. - Major Cavazos
       Mare Winningham - Elsie Cahill
       Bailee Madison - Isabelle Cahill
       Taylor Geare - Maggie Cahill
       Patrick Flueger - Private Joe WIlls
       Carey Mulligan - Cassie Willis
       Omid Abtahi - Yusuf
       Navid Negahban - Murad
       Ethan Suplee - Sweeney
       Aaron Shiver - A.J.
       Ray Prewitt - Owen
       Rebekah Wiggins - Marine Wife
       Carrie Fleming - Marine Wife #2
       Jenny Wade - Tina
       Sheila Ivy Traister - Pilot
       Chad Brummett - Co-Pilot
       Jason Hill - Lt. Sanderson
       Kevin Wiggins - Navy Chaplain
       Yusef Azami - Taliban Leader
       James Dever - Sgt. Major Dever
       Kevin Adkins - Flag Detail Commander
       Johnnie Hector - Cop #1
       Jeremiah Bitsui - Cop #2
       William L. Allen - Cop #3
       Benjamin Baldwin - Cop #4
       Richard Wade - Crew Chief
       Luce Rains - The Nose
       Enayat Delawary - Ahmed
       Rick Lamonda - Elvis
       Paul Ramos - Sentry
       Shawn Bryan - Marine Cadence
       Oscar Meija - Uniform in Helicopter
       David Bachelor - U.S. Navy Chaplain
       Zachary Grand - Afghanistan Boy
       Michael David Aragon - Terrorist
       Iris Dunbar - Burka Woman
       Justin Marmion - Marine Hostage
       Robert Mitchell - Marine Rescuer #1
       Collin D. Barry - Marine Rescuer #2
       Janet Sanford - Mourner at Church #1
       Casey Sanford - Mourner at Church #2
       Gary Moore - Marine Mourner #1
       Eric Steinig - Marine Mourner #2
       Colleen Frye - Woman in Church
       James Duffy - Man in Church
       David Manzanares - Bartender "Dave"
       Michael Castellano - Afghan Fighter
       Carol A. Salazar - Woman on Bridge
       Wendell Sweet - Orderly

• Director:

  Jim Sheridan

• Producer:

  Michael De Luca, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Ryan Kavanaugh

• Screenwriter:

  David Benioff

• Cinematographer:

  Frederick Elmes

• Composer (Music Score):

  Thomas Newman

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Gina Amador

• Editor:

  Jay Cassidy

• Production Designer:

  Tony Fanning

• Art Director:

  Guy Barnes

• Co-producer:

  Jeremiah Samuels, Matt Battaglia, Ken Halsband, Mark Fischer

• Executive Producer:

  Tucker Tooley, Zach Schiff-Abrams, Jon Feltheimer, Scott Fischer

• Set Designer:

  Patty Klawonn, Andrew Gartner

• Costume Designer:

  Durinda Wood

• Set Decorator:

  Wendy Barnes

• First Assistant Director:

  Joe Camp III

• Casting:

  Avy Kaufman, Jo Edna Boldin

• Special Effects Coordinator:

  Randy Moore

• Musical Performer:

  U2

• Executive Music Producer:

  Happy Walters

• Unit Production Manager:

  Jeremiah Samuels

• Production Supervisor:

  Bill Badalato

• Second Assistant Camera:

  Steve Battaglia

• Department Head Hair:

  Bunny Parker

• Department Head Makeup:

  Michelle Vittone-McNeil

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Scott Sproule

• Executive Music Producer:

  Season Kent

• Executive in Charge of Productio:

  Ken Halsband

REVIEW:

• 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