Dartherer I really don't get the hype.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

jayperrine Toby Maguire puts on an epic performance, Natalie Portman is her always awesome self, and Jake Gyllenhaal brings it as well. Loved it, definitely brings the feels.

SnoopyStyle Marine Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is going to Afganistan on another tour leaving behind his wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two young daughters. He picks up his brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) getting out of prison after serving his time for armed robbery. The family gathers for a dinner before Sam leaves. Tommy fights with their military father Hank (Sam Shepard). The family is stunned when Sam is reported killed in a helicopter crash. In reality, he's been captured by the Taliban along with Private Joe Willis. At home, Tommy cleans up his act while getting closer to Grace. Captivity turns horrific and when Sam is rescued, he returns home psychologically damaged.This cast is stacked and they all bring it. Director Jim Sheridan is able to nurture some amazing work especially from Tobey Maguire. Portman, Gyllenhaal, Shepard, and even little Bailee Madison show their acting muscles. The story does feel a little melodramatic like a broad Greek tragedy. That's par for the course. This is big time acting.

hall895 Brothers is a movie which has the pieces to succeed but those pieces do not end up coming together to form a satisfying whole. The story is certainly compelling. Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal are reliable performers who are certainly capable of making something good out of the material. The whole production is in the hands of well-respected director Jim Sheridan. The movie should work. But it really doesn't. You can see the potential here but Brothers falls well short of what it could have been.Portman and Gyllenhaal do fine work but the key performer in Brothers is Tobey Maguire. And therein is the first problem with the film. Maguire never really convinces in the role. He plays Marine captain Sam Cahill, who as we meet him is about to head out for another tour of duty in Afghanistan. He'll be leaving behind his wife, Grace, and their two young daughters. Also left behind is Sam's brother, Tommy, the black sheep of the family. Tommy just got out of prison, he's always drunk, he's a complete loser. Sam loves his brother but nobody else wants to deal with Tommy. His own father, a military man who worships Sam, despises him. Sam's wife is disgusted by Tommy and does not want him around at all, ever. With Sam gone, Tommy will be rudderless, left to fend for himself. And then things get a lot worse. In Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter crashes. Sam is dead.Only we see right away that Sam is not dead at all, he survived the crash and was taken prisoner by the Taliban. Which begs the question of why the U.S. military was in such a hurry to tell Sam's family that he was dead. Anyhow, while Sam's family tries to carry on and cope with his death the very much alive Sam does whatever he has to do to survive to try to get back to his family. The movie proceeds on these parallel tracks. What will happen if these tracks come together, if the "dead" Sam comes home? Certainly an interesting situation but there is the sense the movie fails to make the most of it. With Sam supposedly dead Tommy cleans up his act. He tries to help Grace around the house, grows close with her and her kids. It's a nice redemption story but uncomfortable for obvious reasons, especially as we keep cutting back to the trials and tribulations of Sam in Afghanistan. And, as you might expect when one is imprisoned by the Taliban, those are some pretty nasty trials.There is the sense the movie chickens out a bit, Grace and Tommy never go as far with their relationship as you might expect them to. It becomes more about Tommy's relationship with Grace's kids. Sam's kids. The kids come to love Uncle Tommy, accepting him as more or less a new father. So what happens if the old father comes back? Awkward. And not just awkward, potentially frightening because after what he's been through Sam is not the same man he once was. The loving husband and father, the heroic Marine...that Sam is gone. He's a shell of the man he once was. How this all plays out ultimately is disappointing. You buy into Maguire as the nice Sam at the film's beginning. The not-so-nice Sam we see later on Maguire struggles with. The actor doesn't fit the role. He's trying really hard. Too hard. Rage and fury just don't come naturally to Maguire it seems, he's overacting trying to pull it off and it's just not believable. Portman, playing Grace, and Gyllenhaal, playing Tommy, are good. They work well with one another and they play off of Maguire well. Their reactions to Maguire work, Maguire himself doesn't. The story has some failings in the end, seen most clearly at a family birthday party where everybody behaves in ways which are hard to believe. It eventually comes to a big dramatic, climactic (though overacted) head...and then the movie just kind of ends. There is very little in the way of resolution. For a movie which seemed to hold great promise in the end there is not much satisfaction.

Dominic LeRose Films like "Brothers" that deal more with the trauma faced by soldiers after their battles are usually more powerful than those that center around the actual war. Director Jim Sheridan does a marvelous job bringing three-dimensional characters to life in a story that is impossible to turn away from. Toby Maguire gives one of the best performances of all time as Sam Cahill, a solider who gets sent to Afghanistan and goes missing. The devastating news is heard by his lovely wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and his underachieving brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal). Tommy steps up and becomes a father figure to his nieces and becomes close with with Grace. When Sam returns home, everyone is extremely happy to see him. The hardest part of "Brothers" are the scenes involving Sam's PDS. Maguire's acting is amazing and powerful. Whenever he steps on the screen he dominates the shot with his rich facial expressions and audacious actions. His Oscar snub is the most unfortunate to date in my mind. There's a lot of interesting connections between all the members of the Cahill family that give a great dramatic effect. The story mainly focuses on the relation between Sam and Tommy due to them both facing similar situations. They each fight their own wars in life. Gyllenhaal and Maguire capture the emotional changes in their characters very well. The script by David Benioff is one of the most powerful stories imaginable. It focuses more on how overwhelming experiences destroy lives than on the actual experiences themselves. The dialogue shared between the characters is either very realistic or uncomfortable to handle due to the intensity it will lead to. "Brothers" is more of a family struggles film than a war film. One thing Jim Sheridan does meticulously is make the most high-powered scenes inside Sam's house. We get a perfect balance of seeing the Cahill family before and after Sam comes homes to create complex characterization and almost never ending conflict. Films like "Brothers" are not typical conflict resolution films. This one is a tragic examination of one of American societies most devastating struggles. You couldn't ask for more talented people to make this gripping film.