Brothers (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Brothers is a 2009 American war-drama starring Tobey Maguire
, Jake Gyllenhaal
and Natalie Portman
. Directed by Jim Sheridan
, the film is based on Susanne Bier
's 2004 Danish film Brødre which takes place in Afghanistan
and Denmark
. Both films take inspiration from Homer
's epic poem The Odyssey. Tobey Maguire received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal
) are brothers. A Marine
captain about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman
), with whom he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie (Bailee Madison
, Taylor Grace Geare
). The film opens with Tommy being released from jail for armed robbery, not long before Sam departs for Afghanistan
in October, 2007.
Soon news comes that Sam's helicopter has crashed over the water, killing all of the Marines aboard. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger
), have been taken prisoner
in a mountain village. With Sam "gone", Tommy attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family by wrangling old friends to help with kitchen repairs for Grace and the kids. Grace slowly sheds her previous resentment towards her brother-in-law.
As months pass, Grace and Tommy bond over their mutual mourning, culminating in a passionate fireside kiss. They regret it afterward, and do not take this attraction any further, though Tommy continues to win the favor of his nieces. Meanwhile, Sam and Joe are abused and tortured by terrorists, forced to make videotaped dismissals of the military and their mission, though only Joe cracks. The captors eventually deem him useless and force Sam, at gunpoint, to beat Joe to death with a lead pipe. He does so and reacts angrily. Sometime later, Sam is rescued.
Sam returns home, clearly traumatized by his experience. He drifts through encounters in a cold, paranoid daze, refuses to explain to his family what happened while he was in Afghanistan, and lies to Joe's widow that he does not know how Joe died. He also believes Tommy and Grace had a sexual relationship in his absence. During Maggie's birthday party, a resentful and jealous Isabelle claims that Sam's paranoid assumptions are true: that Tommy and Grace slept together. Sam becomes enraged, destroying the newly remodeled kitchen with a crow bar and pulling a pistol
on Tommy who arrives and tries to calm his brother's violent tantrum. The police arrive, and after a frantic confrontation in which Sam holds the gun up against his head and nearly commits suicide
, Sam surrenders.
Sam is admitted to a mental hospital
. Grace visits him and tells him that if he does not tell her what is tormenting him, he will lose her forever. Faced with this decision, Sam finally opens up about the source of his pain, confiding in her that he killed Joe and they embrace. A letter between husband and wife is read in voice over, with Sam wondering if he will be able to continue living a normal life.
and The Blind Side
. Since its box office debut the film has grossed $42,961,723 worldwide.
reports that 61% of 148 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
of 6.2 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "It plays more like a traditional melodrama than the Susanne Bier film that inspired it, but Jim Sheridan's Brothers benefits from rock-solid performances by its three leads." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 45%, based on a sample of 29 reviews. On Metacritic
the film has a rating of 58 out of 100 based on 30 reviews.
song "Winter
" was nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. Of the nomination, Tobey Maguire said "I had no expectation about getting a nomination, but I was watching nonetheless. My wife and my son got really excited. I was sort of surprised — I was like, 'Oh, wow.' And I couldn't hear the latter part of my name." The Edge
of U2 described how the band planned to celebrate the nomination. "I think we might have a pint of Guinness and eat a potato in honor of (director) Jim (Sheridan) and his great piece of work." Bailee Madison was nominated for a BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actress
, and was nominated for a Saturn Award
for Best Performance by a Younger Actor. Jim Sheridan
won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Director for Film. Natalie Portman
was nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for a Saturn Award
for Best Actress. Tobey Maguire
was nominated for a Saturn Award
for Best Actor. The film was nominated for a Saturn Award
for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Maguire, Gyllenhaal and Portman were nominated for the Vits Awards for "Best Performance", which Maguire won.
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
, Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
and Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
. Directed by Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan is an Irish film director. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is perhaps best known for his films My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Get Rich or Die Tryin and In America.-Life and career:...
, the film is based on Susanne Bier
Susanne Bier
Susanne Bier is a Danish film director best known for her feature films Brothers, After the Wedding and the Academy-Award-winning In a Better World.-Life and work:Susanne Bier was born to Jewish parents in Copenhagen, Denmark...
's 2004 Danish film Brødre which takes place in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Both films take inspiration from Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's epic poem The Odyssey. Tobey Maguire received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
Plot
Sam Cahill (Tobey MaguireTobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
) are brothers. A Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
captain about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
), with whom he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie (Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison is an American actress. She is most famous for her role in the 2007 film adaption of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia in which she plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jesse Aarons. She films a webshow with her babysitter and fellow...
, Taylor Grace Geare
Taylor Geare
Taylor Grace Geare is an American child actress with many television and film roles, starting in 2008, most notably in the 2009 film Brothers, in the role of Maggie Cahill, the younger daughter of Captain Sam Cahill . She also had a role as Teya in the Natalie Portman segment of New York, I Love You...
). The film opens with Tommy being released from jail for armed robbery, not long before Sam departs for Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in October, 2007.
Soon news comes that Sam's helicopter has crashed over the water, killing all of the Marines aboard. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger
Patrick Flueger
Patrick John Flueger is an American actor, known for his lead role in the television series The 4400.-Life and career:...
), have been taken prisoner
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in a mountain village. With Sam "gone", Tommy attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family by wrangling old friends to help with kitchen repairs for Grace and the kids. Grace slowly sheds her previous resentment towards her brother-in-law.
As months pass, Grace and Tommy bond over their mutual mourning, culminating in a passionate fireside kiss. They regret it afterward, and do not take this attraction any further, though Tommy continues to win the favor of his nieces. Meanwhile, Sam and Joe are abused and tortured by terrorists, forced to make videotaped dismissals of the military and their mission, though only Joe cracks. The captors eventually deem him useless and force Sam, at gunpoint, to beat Joe to death with a lead pipe. He does so and reacts angrily. Sometime later, Sam is rescued.
Sam returns home, clearly traumatized by his experience. He drifts through encounters in a cold, paranoid daze, refuses to explain to his family what happened while he was in Afghanistan, and lies to Joe's widow that he does not know how Joe died. He also believes Tommy and Grace had a sexual relationship in his absence. During Maggie's birthday party, a resentful and jealous Isabelle claims that Sam's paranoid assumptions are true: that Tommy and Grace slept together. Sam becomes enraged, destroying the newly remodeled kitchen with a crow bar and pulling a pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
on Tommy who arrives and tries to calm his brother's violent tantrum. The police arrive, and after a frantic confrontation in which Sam holds the gun up against his head and nearly commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, Sam surrenders.
Sam is admitted to a mental hospital
Mental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
. Grace visits him and tells him that if he does not tell her what is tormenting him, he will lose her forever. Faced with this decision, Sam finally opens up about the source of his pain, confiding in her that he killed Joe and they embrace. A letter between husband and wife is read in voice over, with Sam wondering if he will be able to continue living a normal life.
Cast
- Tobey MaguireTobey MaguireTobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
as Capt. Sam Cahill - Jake GyllenhaalJake GyllenhaalJacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
as Tommy Cahill - Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
as Grace Cahill - Mare WinninghamMare WinninghamMare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
as Elsie Cahill - Bailee MadisonBailee MadisonBailee Madison is an American actress. She is most famous for her role in the 2007 film adaption of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia in which she plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jesse Aarons. She films a webshow with her babysitter and fellow...
as Isabelle Cahill - Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Hank Cahill - Clifton Collins, Jr.Clifton Collins, Jr.Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. is an American actor.-Life and career:Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, of half Mexican descent and the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. He has sometimes been credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez to honor his grandfather...
as Maj. Cavazos - Taylor GeareTaylor GeareTaylor Grace Geare is an American child actress with many television and film roles, starting in 2008, most notably in the 2009 film Brothers, in the role of Maggie Cahill, the younger daughter of Captain Sam Cahill . She also had a role as Teya in the Natalie Portman segment of New York, I Love You...
as Maggie Cahill - Patrick FluegerPatrick FluegerPatrick John Flueger is an American actor, known for his lead role in the television series The 4400.-Life and career:...
as Pvt. Joe Willis - Carey MulliganCarey MulliganCarey Hannah Mulligan is an English actress. She made her film debut as Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice . She had roles in numerous British programmes and, in 2007, made her Broadway debut in The Seagull to critical acclaim....
as Cassie Willis - Jenny WadeJenny Wade (actress)Jennifer "Jenny" Wade is an American actress best known for playing "Liz Traynor" on the Fox television series The Good Guys, "Nina" in TV series Reaper and "Honey Pie", in the Feast trilogy.-Life and career:...
as Tina - Omid AbtahiOmid AbtahiOmid Abtahi is an American actor of Iranian origin.- Biography :Before moving to the United States, Abtahi and his family lived in Europe and the Middle East.He grew up in Orange County, California, and graduated from University High School in Irvine....
as Yusuf - Ethan SupleeEthan SupleeEthan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
as Sweeney - Ray PrewittRay PrewittRay Prewitt is an American actor, producer, and aircraft broker. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he interned in the genetics lab at the veterinary school's exotic animal clinic and was a crew chief for the now infamous Aggie Bonfire. Ray is never seen on stage or screen without his...
as Owen - Navid NegahbanNavid NegahbanNavid Negahban , is an Iranian American actor. He often plays terrorists in movies and television series, but sometimes plays evil magicians in some TV movies. He plays both Arabs and Iranians...
as Murad
Box office
On its opening weekend, the film opened #3 with $9,527,848 behind New MoonNew Moon (2009 film)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, commonly referred to as New Moon, is a 2009 American romance fantasy-vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's 2006 novel New Moon. It is the second film in The Twilight Saga film series and is the sequel to 2008's Twilight. Summit Entertainment greenlit the sequel in...
and The Blind Side
The Blind Side (film)
The Blind Side is a 2009 American semi-biographical drama film. It is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL...
. Since its box office debut the film has grossed $42,961,723 worldwide.
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 61% of 148 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
of 6.2 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "It plays more like a traditional melodrama than the Susanne Bier film that inspired it, but Jim Sheridan's Brothers benefits from rock-solid performances by its three leads." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 45%, based on a sample of 29 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
the film has a rating of 58 out of 100 based on 30 reviews.
Accolades
Brothers received two Golden Globe nominations: Tobey Maguire was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor and the U2U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
song "Winter
Winter (U2 song)
"Winter" is a song by rock band U2. The track was originally planned to be included on the band's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, but it was cut at the end of the recording sessions as it did not fit the album's theme. The song does appear on the accompanying film Linear...
" was nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. Of the nomination, Tobey Maguire said "I had no expectation about getting a nomination, but I was watching nonetheless. My wife and my son got really excited. I was sort of surprised — I was like, 'Oh, wow.' And I couldn't hear the latter part of my name." The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
of U2 described how the band planned to celebrate the nomination. "I think we might have a pint of Guinness and eat a potato in honor of (director) Jim (Sheridan) and his great piece of work." Bailee Madison was nominated for a BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actress
BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer
The Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association...
, and was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Performance by a Younger Actor. Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan is an Irish film director. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is perhaps best known for his films My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Get Rich or Die Tryin and In America.-Life and career:...
won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Director for Film. Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
was nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Actress. Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Actor. The film was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Maguire, Gyllenhaal and Portman were nominated for the Vits Awards for "Best Performance", which Maguire won.