Tobey Maguire is known to most people as Spider-Man in the eponynomous trilogy, but in ‘Brothers’ he gives a fantastic performance, one worthy of an Oscar nomination. He plays a U.S. marine, Sam Camill, who is deployed into Afghanistan, leaving behind his wife Grace, daughters, and ex-con brother, Tommy. Sam’s helicopter crashes and is presumed dead by his family. Trying to move on, Tommy cares for the children and Grace. But then Sam returns, unexpectedly. The family is happy, reunited. But Sam has seen and done things that both haunt him and the audience, and it takes a toll on his mental health, personality, and family.
Tobey Maguire is fantastic, exhibiting range that he’s never shown as an factor. In the middle of the film, he is captured by the Taliban, and watching his transformation from all-American family man to paranoid, profane psycho is heart-breaking. One minute he’s cuddling and joking with his daughters, the next he’s smashing dishes with a crowbar. Maguire is, simply put, terrifying in this role. Natalie Portman as his suffering wife is great as well. Jake Gyllenhall’s part doesn’t really require much range as an actor, but he turns in a strong performance. It’s fairly impressive how they casted three big-name actors, yet all three are convincing as a Mid-western family.
A problem with the film is that it presents no clear purpose. It displays quite clearly that war can rip apart families even without someone being killed, but it never brings anything new to the table in terms of ideas. The filmmakers tried (and succeeded) to bring an interesting story and narrative to the screeen, but in a film like this there tends to be some sort of point and/or moral. Maybe that’s for the best, seeing as most war films can get bogged down by these.
Overall, ‘Brothers’ is an excellent film. All three lead performances are excellent, particularly Tobey Maguire, and the script is both well-paced and written. The fact that it somewhat lacks a purpose is counter-balanced by its fascinating look at a man’s inability to reciprocate any emotion. A-
