Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tobey Maguire Anchor This Drama

The Big Picture

• Brothers is a poignant war film focusing on the aftermath of the Afghanistan conflict.
• The movie presents nuanced characters experiencing grief, trauma, and personal growth.
• The cast delivers standout performances, subtly portraying the complexities of the story.

Cinema has most certainly evolved in its depiction of war, allowing for a more critical view of the lasting ramifications of many of the most significant conflicts in world history. While early films about World War II tended to lionize service itself and treat the conflict as a theater for heroism, films about the more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have had to be more sensitive in their approach. Given the controversial motivations and effects of the Afghanistan conflict, a film that is congratulatory would not feel appropriate in the slightest.

While making a film about such recent tragedies is no easy task, Jim Sheridan’s intensely moving 2009 drama, Brothers, tackles the moral and ethical ambiguity of the conflict. While a strong screenplay by future Game of Thrones creator, David Benioff, helps flesh out the films’ characters, the excellent performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman make Brothers an unmissable war-themed drama.

Brothers (2009)

While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.

What Is ‘Brothers’ About?

Brothers is based on the novel, Brødre, by Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen, which also inspired a 2004 Danish film of the same name. The film is set during the early days of the Afghanistan war, when patriotism was still at an all-time high and growing sentiments against engaging in another global war had yet to become mainstream. The United States Marine Corp officer, Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire), considers it his duty to serve, even though it means leaving his wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and their two young daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare), alone at home to worry about him. Unlike other modern war films, Brothers focuses on both the soldiers in combat and the lives that they leave behind. The attention paid to Cahill’s family helps elevate the story’s perspective and gives a more well-rounded depiction of the Afghanistan conflict.

Sam’s departure has its consequences, as his family fears for his safety and reacts to each other with heightened emotions. Grace is generally distrustful of Sam’s younger brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), the “black sheep” of the family that has managed to screw up every good opportunity that he’s ever been granted. Tommy feels ashamed of himself in comparison to his older brother’s heroism, and engages in petty arguments with his father, Hank (Sam Shepard). However, the family’s grievances are set aside once Sam’s helicopter is shot down, and he is presumed dead. Brothers deftly balances two intersecting narratives, with one set during the aftermath of the Afghanistan conflict and the other back at home. Both narratives are heartbreaking in their own right; Sam is forced to fight tooth and nail to survive, even though his family has already begun adjusting to a life without him.

While the immediate aftermath of Sam’s assumed death is traumatizing, Brothers shows the complexities of the grieving process and how challenging it can be to simply “move on.” While Grace is heartbroken by the loss of her husband, she recognizes that languishing in the tragedy will do none of them any good; as difficult as it is, they have to acknowledge that their lives will be very different moving forward. Although initially Tommy sees his brother’s absence as yet another reason to justify his own failings as a family member, he eventually sees the vacuum in Grace’s life and decides to step up. Although their relationship ends up becoming a more intimate one, Tommy’s motivation is purely to provide for the family that his brother held so dearly. The sincerity of his impulses, and the genuine attraction he develops for Grace when they are both under the impression that Sam is dead, makes it all the more complicated once his survival is unearthed.

‘Brothers’ Cast Its Actors Against Type

Brothers succeeds where other family-centric dramas fail because it challenges its cast to act differently compared to the roles they’re usually associated with. While he’s generally associated with playing quiet, reserved characters like Peter Parker or The Ice Storm’s Paul Hood, Maguire gives a very intense, physically demanding performance that embodies the spirit of a traumatized veteran. Over the course of his experiences in Afghanistan, Sam is forced to push himself to physical and emotional limits, often coming to regret the actions he took on instinct. His heightened awareness in the thick of combat makes it all the more challenging when he returns to his normal life.

While he’s certainly one of the industry’s best actors, Jake Gyllenhaal succeeds in giving a nuanced performance as an initially unlikable character. While Tommy’s lack of ambition is made more identifiable in comparison to his brother’s outward selflessness, he’s also not someone who inherently seeks out help for himself. Gyllenhaal beautifully shows how being forced into an uncomfortable situation forces Tommy to make self-improvements; ironically, caring for others allows him to have a better grasp on his own mental health.

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‘Brothers’ Is a Nuanced Depiction of Trauma

Sheridan has proven in the past with films like, In the Name of the Father and The Boxer, that he can tackle ambiguous moral dilemmas, and Brothers takes a sensitive approach to issues surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder. Sam can only react with rage when he realizes the bond between his wife and brother, acting violently, which suggests a deep misreading of the situation. However, Brothers shows that Sam’s deteriorating emotional state is one that he can’t be blamed for, as he was never allotted the resources to properly discuss what happened to him.

While the love triangle would have taken the film into melodramatic territory, Brothers is earnest without being saccharine. The film does not offer any easy answers to how the characters should move on from their situation, and does not make any of the perspectives faultless. The ending is left deliberately ambiguous in a way that reflects the reality of what modern war is, as to end on a more evidently optimistic note would contrast with the authenticity that the film had maintained up until that point. It’s left to the viewer to determine whether the characters have the strength to persevere.

Brothers is available to watch on Amazon Prime in the U.S.

Watch on Amazon Prime

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