which is very tense and stresses the contrast between the two brothers.

Not long after being deployed in Afghanistan, Sam’s helicopter crashes and he is presumed dead back home. Tommy starts to help around Grace’s house and takes care of her two daughters. She starts to warm up to him after initial discomfort, and they become close. However, back in Afghanistan, Sam is taken as a prisoner of war and is in fact not dead at all.

The first half of the film switches back and forth between Tommy and Grace back home and the inhumane treatment of Sam and another surviving marine. The second half of the film is spoiled in all of the trailers, but I will not mention it here, as watching the story unfold by itself is much more interesting.

The acting, especially by Maguire, is fantastic and multidimensional. I didn’t expect much from Spider-Man, but he does a great Job. Tommy and Grace are also played very well, but they have somewhat easier roles.

I rushed out this review because this is really a film that you need to see. It’s fantastic, and provides a very interesting, if not too unique look on the trauma of war. The acting and script are fantastic, and the story is also very compelling. I can also honestly say that this film perhaps has the most intense non-action film sequence I have ever seen put on film.

I highly recommend this movie, but if you plan to see it, do not watch the trailer if you haven’t already. The only real issue with this movie is it doesn’t develop the relationship between the two brothers very much, although that is a small complaint.

A

Brothers

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal

Directed By: Jim Sheridan

Rating: R for language and some disturbing violent content Runtime: 110 minutes

Brothers, a new film by Jim Sheridan (In America), is a story primarily about how war and trauma tears people up and destroys both their lives and the lives of those around them. It is a remake of a Danish film called Bodre, and while I haven’t seen it, I’ve heard that it is a very close remake.

The story follows the Cahill family. Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) is Sam Cahill, a marine being deployed to Afghanistan, and not for the first time. A line early on in the film by Maguire sets the tone of Afghanistan: “Weird…it almost feels like home.”

Meanwhile, Sam’s younger brother Tommy, played by Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Jarhead), is a man just getting paroled after being imprisoned for armed robbery. There is a dinner scene with both of these brothers with their family and wife Grace, played by Natalie Portman (The Professional, V for Vendetta),