Brothers

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Brothers

R

2009

1h 44m

Drama

War

Mystery & Thriller

Romance

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

156 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Siblings Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are as far apart as brothers can be; while Sam serves his country as a Marine, Tommy is a drifter who just got out of prison. When Sam is shot down and presumed dead in Afghanistan, Tommy vows to take care of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his children. Tommy and Grace become close, and when Sam unexpectedly returns home, the consequences of their actions threaten the foundation of the entire family.

Critics Consensus

It plays more like a traditional melodrama than the Susanne Bier film that inspired it, but Jim Sheridan's Brothers benefits from rock-solid performances by its three leads.

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Ed Koch

The Atlantic

01/16/2018

Although Brothers is not a first-rate film, it informs us about the after-effects of war and is worth seeing while we wait for better ones to come along.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

09/12/2017

A

... subtly yet brilliantly captures one soldier's fight to end the war in his mind months after leaving the battlefield.

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Laura Kern

Film Comment Magazine

09/24/2014

Anyone fond of Danish director Susanne Bier's 2004 original should steer clear of this ill-advised though faithful remake by Jim Sheridan.

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Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

01/31/2021

4/5

Isn't a war movie. It's a movie about what happens after war, and in its own quiet way shows the toll war takes on not only the people overseas but those who stay home as well.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

09/04/2020

3.0/4.0

Bier's original film, which was a ballsier, more political and far grittier take on this story, carried with it a heavier, more universal tone.

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Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

05/11/2019

B

The entire cast is first-rate, especially Maguire, who shows a lot of range in a really difficult role.

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Michael R

@MichaelRosario 2d

Tobey is great in this movie. If there is any emotion he is great as portraying as an actor, it’s rage. You truly feel the trauma and sting of betrayal of life as a veteran has on him

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JhooN T

@RT75085229 6d

This film is VERY desgusting.

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Johannes S

@RT64416087 Jul 21

Maguire's acting is off the charts. But I can't help to think that everyone in the family could have easily dissuaded him from believing the lie.

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Cork B

@RT87142816 May 4

Solid with a great cast and decent acting. A lot of the emotional high points feel like set ups, and I think implying and not showing the war would have been better, but still solid all around.

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Danielle G

@RT59202558 May 1

Might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how they convinced this cast to do this movie with this script. Felt like they filmed and entire movie cut it in half and only released 1 of the halves. More storyline and character development could’ve created a much better movie.

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Zach W.

@alanwakeup25 Apr 4

SPOILER ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Liked the movie besides everyone around Sam made it seem like Grace and Tommy were actually doing the deed when in fact they weren’t. Hate movies where people could be saying more but they aren’t. Cheap way to move the story ahead.

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Jim Sheridan

Director

Tobey Maguire

Sam Cahill

Jake Gyllenhaal

Tommy Cahill

Natalie Portman

Grace Cahill

Sam Shepard

Hank Cahill

Bailee Madison

Isabelle Cahill

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Synopsis

Siblings Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are as far apart as brothers can be; while Sam serves his country as a Marine, Tommy is a drifter who just got out of prison. When Sam is shot down and presumed dead in Afghanistan, Tommy vows to take care of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his children. Tommy and Grace become close, and when Sam unexpectedly returns home, the consequences of their actions threaten the foundation of the entire family.

Director: Jim Sheridan
Producer: Michael De Luca, Ryan Kavanaugh, Sigurjon Sighvatsson
Screenwriter: David Benioff
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Relativity, Sighvatsson Films, Michael De Luca
Rating: R (Some Disturbing Violent Conten|Language)
Genre: Drama, War, Mystery & Thriller, Romance, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 4, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 23, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $28.5M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, DTS