Brothers is a great war movie about the effects of war on the mind and on family. The story is told trough great direction, but the main beauty of the film comes from the extremely gifted cast.
Tobey Maguire plays Cap. Sam Cahill, a US Army Captain who is happily married to Grace (Natalie Portman). Together they have two little girls named Isabelle and Maggie. Then Sam is sent back to Afghanistan just after his brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is released from prison for armed robbery.
As Tommy tries to fit into the family and become friends with Grace and the kids, his father Frank Cahill makes sure Tommy knows how proud he is of Sam, and how disappointed he is in Tommy. While in Afghanistan, Sam and his buddies are taken prisoner by a local militia group. After having endured horrible situations, Sam finally makes it out alive. When he arrives back home, his family assumes he is dead and Grace and Tommy have gotten closer. Sam, still struggling from the emotional pressure of war, becomes weary of how close Tommy and his wife really are. This all defuses in an outburst of violence.
The acting is great in this movie. Gyllenhaal and Maguire are both young stars who I might not have pictured together, but it really works. They get the brothers relationship perfectly, especially as Sam is the ‘good’ one- but they still get a long. Gyllenhaal is a gifted young actor and has already proved it. Tobey Maguire is famous (because of Spiderman) but he has never been considered a good actor before this. In Brothers, he is brilliant. This is by far Maguire’s best role yet, he portrays the difficulty of war well and his best scene comes when he snaps.
The direction and cinematography are all good. The music is very good featuring tracks from The Fray and U2 which set the perfect tone for this emotional film. The movie can be sad, but it is very good. I highly recommend it to people who enjoy movies about the effects of war at home, and who appreciate good acting.