On the Big Board |
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Staff |
In Brief |
| 42/169 |
Max Braden |
For a movie titled Brothers this was a little too focussed on Portman's character and not enough on Gyllenhaal. |
Prior to directing 2007’s Things We Lost In The Fire, Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier directed a gripping drama about a pair of brothers whose lives were altered as one was sent off to serve in the military in Afghanistan. The straight-laced, conservative brother goes off to serve in the military far from home, leaving his wife and kids to carry on alone. When the soldier’s helicopter crashes in Afghanistan and it becomes clear that he may not be coming back, the less accomplished black sheep moves in to help his brother’s ex-wife cope...and things get complicated. It’s a touching drama with distinctly non-US pacing that allows moments to slowly unfold onscreen. Perhaps its biggest appeal was the fact that the biggest star was Connie Nielsen. Solid, emotionally compelling acting by sub-celebrity faces made it a very touching film. I saw it once on critic’s advance screening. It didn’t do well enough in the initial markets to make it to the local indie film theatres in the third-tier town I live in.
A couple of years later, Irish-born director Jim Sheridan (In America) is doing an English language adaptation of the film starring three really high profile Hollywood actors: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhall and Natalie Portman. Maguire stars as the soldier married to the Portman character (played by Nielsen in the original film). Portman’s involvement in the film was announced in Variety all the way back in 2007, so this one seems to have taken its time in getting to the screen. Being released by Lionsgate, there’s a good chance that this one’s going to have a limited release, but it does appear that they might be trying to groom the film for Oscar contention. It’s possible that this is one of those dramas everyone’s going to be talking about at the end of the year. (Russ Bickerstaff/BOP)
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