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Screenwriter David Benioff (The 25th Hour) didn't have to do much to relocate Brothers from Denmark to America. The story remains the same: Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) loves his family, but he's equally devoted to his career. Just as his ne'er-do-well brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), exits prison, where he did time for robbery, the Marines deploy Sam to Afghanistan. Tommy starts looking in on his wary sister-in-law, Grace (Natalie Portman), but then Sam's helicopter crashes in the mountains, and the military informs Grace that her husband has died. Unbeknownst to the Cahill clan, the Taliban has taken Sam hostage and tortures him to elicit information. Sam resists, but his colleague caves, leading to an unthinkable act. Back in New Mexico, Grace and Tommy grow closer, stopping just short of a full-blown affair (in Susanne Bier's original, they take the plunge). Even Tommy's disapproving Vietnam vet father, Hank (Sam Shepard), sees his son in a new light after Tommy renovates Grace's kitchen. But when Sam is rescued by his company, he returns a broken man and is convinced that his wife has fallen in love with his brother. Even his daughters are afraid of him (Bailee Madison impresses as the eldest). As in Bier's film, Jim Sheridan (In America) elevates redemption and forgiveness over tragedy and loss, and his well-meaning remake gets off to a solid start, but it loses steam by the end. Brothers offers a compelling scenario, but the telling is too overstated to capture the full heartbreak of the situation. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Brothers (Click for larger image)

Title from sell sheet.

Originally released as a motion picture in 2009.

Special features: "Remade in the USA, how Brodre became Brothers" featurette; "Jim Sheridan, film and family" featurette; feature audio commentary by director Jim Sheridan.

Music, Thomas Newman.

Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham.

Captain Sam Cahill is embarking on his fourth tour of duty, leaving behind his beloved wife and two daughters. When Sam's Blackhawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan, the worst is presumed, leaving an enormous void in the family. Despite a dark history, Sam's charismatic younger brother steps in to fill the family void.

MPAA rating: R; language and some disturbing violent content.

DVD, region 1, widescreen ([2.35:1]) presentation; Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1.

English dialogue, English or Spanish subtitles; closed-captioned.

The movie show you a terrible truth about what is the life that live our soldiers when they come back from those "CONFLICTS". The movie arrived sooner than I expected and in perfect conditions.

"Brothers" is an American remake of an excellent Danish drama from 2004. As the title suggests, the story centers on two male siblings who are essentially polar opposites of one another. Sam (Tobey Maguire) is an upright family man and lifelong Marine who has already served one tour in Afghanistan and is all set to embark on a second. Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a ne'er-do-well ex-con who's released from prison on the very same week Sam is being re-deployed to the battlefield, leaving a wife (Natalie Portman) and two young daughters (the delightful Bailee Madison and Taylor Grace Geare) behind at home. When news comes that Sam has been killed in a helicopter crash, Tommy is there to help pick up the pieces, leading to some potential romantic complications between him and his brother's grieving widow, Grace. But that turns out to be only half the story, as anyone familiar with the Danish version already knows. <br /> <br />Written by David Benioff and directed by Jim Sheridan, "Brothers" follows the original fairly closely in terms of outline and incident, focusing on one man's attempts to turn his life around after making a mess of things, and another's efforts to come to terms with an action he performed under duress that his conscience will clearly never allow him to live with. The complex relationships among the three principal players - along with Sam's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - are dealt with in an adult and thoughtful fashion, with a minimum of melodrama and nary a hint of sensationalism. The conflicts are further exacerbated by the men's father (Sam Shepherd), a hardnosed Vietnam vet whose personal preference for Sam over Tommy has been evident to both boys from very early on in their lives. <br /> <br />"Brothers" reveals its European roots in its more deliberate pacing, its emotional complexity, its lack of judgment towards its characters, and its willingness to leave some loose ends hanging at the end. Maguire and Gyllenhaal are both excellent as the two torn brothers trying to stay close despite their differences - as are Portman, Shepherd and Mare Winningham as the boys' loving and conciliatory step mom whose calming influence over her husband goes a long way towards ameliorating some otherwise potentially volatile situations.

When I found this movie, Brothers, starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman, and also featuring Mare Winningham and Sam Shepard, I had some expectations about it. For one thing, I've enjoyed performances by each of these actors over the years. <br /> <br />The cast was wonderful in this poignant depiction of how the war affects everyone in the family, including those left behind. <br /> <br />When Sam (Tobey Maguire) returns to Afghanistan, he leaves behind his wife Grace (Natalie Portman), his two kids, his brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), and his parents. <br /> <br />Sam Shepard stoically plays the man who believes in the honor of military life, but later in the movie, we catch a glimpse of emotion as he shares some of what he felt after returning from Vietnam. <br /> <br />While Sam is away, Grace comes to rely more and more on Tommy. Especially after the family is notified that Sam's plane crashed in Afghanistan and that he didn't survive. <br /> <br />However, we soon glimpse scenes in Afghanistan that reveal that Sam is not dead, but a prisoner who is being tortured. The horror is almost overwhelming. <br /> <br />There are moments back home, though, where Tommy and Grace seem more and more connected. <br /> <br />So imagine what will happen when Sam actually returns. The sudden return is almost as heart-wrenching as his departure earlier. The emotions, the adjustment difficulties, the effects of the torture on Sam, and ultimately on his family.... <br /> <br />This was a compelling film that left me thinking all through the afternoon about the high price of war and the emotional after effects.

This movie shows a young married couple with two small children. The husband is a marine with a high rank. They are a happy closeknit family. His father and stepmom are part of their life. The husband is played by Tobey, and he has a brother who he seems to be protective of, played by Jake. Jake's role is more of the scapegoat, being measured as less than by his father. It starts off just showing the way the family acts with each other than it branches off into Tobey's character going to war to Afghanastan. He and another officier get shot down and become prisoners of war. The torture scenes feel brutal and what is required brings Tobey's character waves of shame. He gets saved by a fleet of marines than has to go home and find that his life will never be the same again. His brother ends up filling his shoes while he was away. The title makes it seem like it was about the two and their connection together, yet I don't really see a plot line that warrants that title. The disasterous damage done to the psyche is reflected well by the actor, Maguire. You can see the set tension in his face and body language. The wife, Natalie, loves her husband and wants to support as best she can. She does a good job at showing her feelings on screen and is so believable. I liked to see Portman who has been a favorite actor since Garden State. I liked the caring and thoughtfulness that the brothers father showed to Portman's character and children by buying milk and just being so at ease with his extended role to them. The way the tears fell from her cheeks with such ease and clear feeling. The ice skating. The understanding and acceptance towards the change of someone whose loved. A new beginning.

The worse movie Ive seen in a while. The casting was completely wrong, there was absolutly no chemistry between any of the actors. The only believable character in the whole movie was the father in law. <br /> <br />Toby Maguire; a Captain in the Military?? oh please, He looked like a 18 year old boot camp recruit and acted like it. The movie dragged on and on and on but rushed on other parts and that was due to very bad editing. This was probably a good book but certainly did not play well on camera. <br />