Brothers is an effective drama with exceptional performances by Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman as the three leads. Director Jim Sheridan is admirable in making this movie that does have some flaws which I'll get into later but the good more than outweighs the bad. Tobey Maguire gives one of his best performances showing audiences his range as an actor outside of being Peter Parker in the Spider-man movies by Sam Raimi. The first two were good but the third one not so much at least to me. Anyways Maguire does a convincing job as Captain Sam Cahill whose suffering from post traumatic stress when he returns home after being held captive behind enemy lines. Maguire brings a quiet intensity to Sam that definitely comes through in the third act. Well done. Jake Gyllenhaal is equally impressive as Sam's charismatic younger brother Tommy whose had a troubled past. Gyllenhaal starts off by playing Tommy as kind of a drunk jerk but when Sam is presumed dead he rises up and seeks redemption for past mistakes by stepping into the void his brother has left. He becomes a surrogate father for his brother's two girls when they needed one the most and an unlikely shoulder to cry on for Sam's wife Grace. Gyllenhaal doesn't share too many scenes with Maguire but they make the best of the ones they do have together. They played off each other well so the chemistry was there making them believable as brothers. Natalie Portman is effective as Sam's wife Grace. She's shows a range of emotions here after learning Sam might be dead which certainly comes through in her performance. Portman continues to show her talent as an actress and this film is no different. She had nice chemistry with Maguire which made their relationship seem real on screen. If it weren't for Gyllenhaal, Portman, and Maguire I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as did because their performances made it worth watching alone. The rest of the cast are very good as well in their limited screen time including Sam Shepard, Clifton Collins Jr., Marie Winningham, and the two girls who played Sam's daughters. The pacing of the movie was a little slow at times before it started to pick up before the climax which kind of weighed it down a bit. Some of the characters are really developed either because most of the focus is on the three leads (Maguire, Gyllenhaal, and Portman) but the rest of the film made up for it's few flaws especially the performances by the cast. Overall Brothers is a well made drama the deals with themes like guilt, forgiveness, and the importance of family. So if this sounds like a movie that peaks your interest than chances are you'll enjoy Brothers which was much better than expected. Maybe not the all time best movie I've seen but it was an entertaining film none the less. Brothers is an emotional drama with some suspense, a little humor, and impressive performances by the cast (Portman, Gyllehaal, and especially Maguire) who make this one worth the time to watch.
