Brothers is a blast to watch (pun intended). Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman star in this smash hit that comes way too close to home for most viewers. The previews were a bit misleading with the intent of driving more viewers to the theater. This movie is not a Jerry Springer drama about two siblings sleeping with the same woman, it is a psychological thriller about a post traumatic stress disorder marine captain fresh off the battlefield. Well, almost…
Tobey Maguire is Captain Sam Cahill; a jack of all trades, kind husband and devoted father. Against his family’s wishes he decides to return to the fray, to see more action in Afghanistan. Possessing the soldier mentality (a sense of duty, obligation, brotherhood and patriotism) Sam wishes his family goodbye and leaves for the battlefront. In quick order his helicopter is shot down by a small band of terrorists looking to ransom American soldiers, or if necessary, make threatening videos directed at the American people. Much of the film is about his struggle with fellow captive Major Cavazos.
Grace Cahill meanwhile is widowed and left with two small children and very little support. After what seems like mere days or weeks in bed, Sam’s degenerate brother Tommy begins wooing her and the children. An alcoholic and overall scumbag, Tommy possesses none of his brother’s gifts and only one of his own. Fortunately for him, that one gift is his charm with women. Being the only support and the only familiar man around Grace, Tommy begins to make inroads into her bedroom and the hearts of her presumed fatherless children.
This is where the previews make some sense. Tommy and Grace indeed fall in love, whether out of sexual lust or emotional desperation. Even worse, the kids look up to Uncle Tommy as a playful father figure whom they badly need. While we are privy to scenes of Tommy and Grace and the kids living like a carefree family, Sam is surviving captivity in a terrorist camp. Hours before his rescue, Captain Cahill was offered a choice: slaughter Major Cavazos with a lead pipe or suffer death and never see his wife and children again. This is where his breakdown occurs. Sam chooses Grace and the kids who all the while are playing house with his alcoholic leech of a brother.
Suddenly, before (as far as viewers can visually see) Grace and Tommy consummate their burgeoning affair, the phone call is made and the news arrives that Sam is alive. Grace and Tommy seem somewhat unhappy at this news as they are in love and have forgotten about the man of the house. At the airport the tension is high and it only grows from there. Over the next scenes Sam is convinced that his brother has slept with his wife, and so am I given my thoughts on human behavior and loyalty. To make matters worse, the kids hate him and do not respect either his sacrifice or his delicate state of mind.
Penultimately in a moving scene Sam threatens to commit suicide in front of Tommy and Grace and the kids. Only after Tommy offers brotherly support does Sam put the gun down and relieve our suspense and agony. As the film ends Sam finally confides in his wife that he is a murderer and may not ever be normal again.
Brothers is a moving, gripping, and suspenseful film that may sicken and stun audiences. Tobey Maguire delivers the performance of a lifetime. Jake Gyllenhaal is more or less there and shows nothing more than being a body chosen for an important role. Natalie Portman actually looks beautiful (normally I find her repulsive in every way). The film is heart breaking because it shows how many veterans return. These heroes often suffer shell shock or PTSD, call it what you will, and are unable to cope with their old reality. How could someone be exposed to death and murder and then return home to play the role of the happy family man? This seems even more troublesome when a man’s brother has been seducing his wife and children for months. Albeit they thought Sam was killed in action, seeing snapshots of him in a terrorist prison camp one moment and his brother and wife kissing the next with gargantuan smiles is too sickening to put into words. This is a serious movie and one that is too close to home.
