Brothers

Wow. I thought I'd enjoy this, but I didn't know how much. Unrelated to the movie, I always found these two actors similar in looks/sound, so them being brothers worked. However, clearly Tobey Maguire is the better actor. From start to finish, he nails his role. Movies like this don't get Oscar nods, but he should. Natalie Portman as an adult...interesting, but again...brilliant. She has gotten better movie to movie, and now is a top actress. Gyllenhaal was solid as the bad brother turned good at the supposed death of his brother.

Plotwise, Bad brother (Jake) gets out of jail and is having a hard time adjusting to normal life. At the same time, his good brother (Tobey) is heading off to Afghanistan as he's in the military. Shortly after, it is assumed that he is dead. (The viewer sees that clearly he is not, although he is not in the best shape) Bad brother, Tommy (Jake) starts helping out Grace (Portman) as she is a struggling "widow." He develops an even better relationship with Sam (Tobey)'s impressionable young kids. After Sam gets back from his struggle overseas, he has trouble adapting, and suspects things are going on with his family that aren't right.

This movie is very moving, and has a lot of depth to it. It is meant in respect to the struggles that someone overseas goes through, and tries to get the viewer to see that things aren't always that easy, and aren't always that hard.

I highly recommend it.

I rate this movie 8.9 out of 10.