Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

Credit: ©2009 Brothers Production, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Jim Sheridan’s (My Left Foot, In America) remake of the 2004 Danish film Brodre by Susanne Bier illustrates without cliché the dehumanizing effects of war (any war; no politics here). Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is an upright, responsible Marine captain bound for Afghanistan. He is looked upon with favor by his father (Sam Shepard) and loved by his wife (Natalie Portman) and two daughters (a standout performance by 11-year-old Bailee Madison). Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal), on the other hand, is a hard-drinking screw-up and an ex-con. No one has much use for him. When Sam is reported dead in a helicopter crash, Tommy is compelled to pull himself together and help his brother’s family. He succeeds, and the healing process begins. Sam, however, is not dead, but was captured and tortured by the Taliban. He returns a broken, haunted and potentially violent man, and the brothers’ roles are essentially reversed. Maguire goes to dark depths here that Peter Parker never dreamt about, Portman shows she hasn’t forgotten how to act, and Gyllenhaal proves he doesn’t need to do cartoony action movies about Persia. Japanese title: My Brother.