# Brothers (2009 film)

Brothers is a 2009 American psychological thriller war film directed by Jim Sheridan and written by David Benioff. A remake of the 2004 Danish film, it follows Captain Sam Cahill (portrayed by Tobey Maguire), a presumed-dead prisoner of the War in Afghanistan who deals with extreme PTSD while reintegrating into society following his release from captivity. The film also stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Cahill's brother and Natalie Portman as his wife. Both films take inspiration from Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.
The film received a mixed response and grossed $43 million. Maguire, however, received particular praise for his performance, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.

## Plot

USMC officer Sam Cahill is about to be sent to war in Afghanistan. He is married to his high school girlfriend Grace, with whom he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie. Sam's younger brother, Tommy, is released from prison on parole after being arrested for armed robbery, just a few days before Sam's departure. At a family dinner with Hank and Elsie, the Cahills' parents, Hank insults Tommy for not understanding his brother's duty and for his criminal past.
During Sam's tour, his helicopter is shot down, and he and Private Joe Willis are the sole survivors. They are taken prisoner by the Taliban, but are declared killed in action by the US government. Upon hearing the news of his brother's presumed death, Tommy berates Grace for letting Sam go to Afghanistan. At Sam's memorial service, Hank attempts to drive Elsie and the girls home while drunk, but Tommy intercepts him. Hank once again berates Tommy, and Tommy accuses Hank of influencing Sam to join the Marines because of his own Vietnam War service.
Tommy helps in completing a kitchen remodel for Grace. He attempts to mend his relationship with Hank, and he bonds with Grace, aided by his growing paternal connection with Isabelle and Maggie. Tommy also apologizes to the bank teller who he held at gunpoint during the robbery. Grace and Tommy unwittingly kiss, but do not take their attraction any further. However, Tommy continues to remain close with the family and his nieces grow attached to him. Meanwhile, Sam and Joe are tortured by their captors and Sam is eventually forced to brutally beat Joe to death with a metal pipe.
Several months later, Sam is rescued and returns home, where he struggles to readjust, showing signs of severe post-traumatic stress disorder; his daughters grow fearful and resentful toward him. Sam also lies to Joe's widow about her husband's death. His paranoia also causes him to believe Grace and Tommy fell in love while he went away. When Grace questions Sam about what happened in Afghanistan, Sam does not answer and demands to know what happened between her and Tommy. Grace tells Sam that she and Tommy shared only one kiss while he was gone, but Sam has trouble believing that is all that happened.
During Maggie's birthday party, Tommy shows up with a woman, Tina. While Isabelle plays with a few of Maggie's new toys, Isabelle complains that she never got what she wanted for her birthday, and that Sam was also absent on her birthday. She is also irritated by the reprimand of her parents and the attention shown to Tina, then begins to play with a balloon loudly, causing Sam to become irritated and annoyed and pop the balloon out of rage in front of the family. A hurt Isabelle falsely claims that Tommy and Grace are having an affair and angrily tells Sam that she wishes he had actually died.
Returning home, Grace puts the daughters to bed. Isabelle apologizes to Grace, saying that she prefers having her Uncle Tommy around. Grace assures both of the girls that Sam will get better soon. Grace then calls Elsie, concerned for their safety. Tommy prepares to go over to their house as Elsie urges Hank to call the police. Sam, believing his daughter's story and upset about killing Joe in order to get back home, loses his temper and wrecks the kitchen with a fire poker. He briefly calms down when Tommy shows up who proceeds to embrace Sam, in order to calm his brother's violent breakdown. However, Sam becomes defensive and holds Tommy at gunpoint. DOD Police arrive and confront Sam, leading into a standoff. He fires a pistol into the air and demands that the policemen kill him. Tommy quiets the officers and attempts to talk to Sam, but Sam puts the gun to his own head, before tearfully saying to Tommy that he's "drowning" and he surrenders.
Sam is arrested and admitted to a Veterans' Affairs hospital. After his arrest, Grace reads the letter Sam wrote her, to be delivered in the event of his passing. Eventually, Grace visits him, giving him an ultimatum that if he does not tell her the truth, he will lose her forever. Sam finally confesses that he killed Joe and they embrace. Devastated and traumatized, he wonders if he will ever be able to live a normal life again.

## Cast

* Tobey Maguire as Capt. Samuel "Sam" Cahill
* Jake Gyllenhaal as Thomas "Tommy" Cahill, Sam's younger brother
* Natalie Portman as Grace Cahill, Sam's wife
* Sam Shepard as Henry "Hank" Cahill, Sam & Tommy's father
* Mare Winningham as Elsie Cahill, Sam & Tommy's stepmother
* Bailee Madison as Isabelle Cahill, Sam & Grace's older daughter and Tommy's niece
* Taylor Geare as Margaret "Maggie" Cahill, Sam & Grace's younger daughter and Tommy's niece
* Patrick Flueger as Pvt. Joseph "Joe" Willis
* Clifton Collins Jr. as Maj. Cavazos
* Carey Mulligan as Cassie Willis, Joe's wife
* Omid Abtahi as Yusuf
* Ethan Suplee as Sweeney
* Navid Negahban as Murad
* Yousef Azami as Taliban Leader
* Jenny Wade as Tina
* César Évora as Gabriel
* Enayat Delawary as Ahmed
* Arron Shiver as A. J.
* Ray Prewitt as Owen

## Reception
### Box office

On its opening weekend, the film opened #3 with $9,527,848 behind New Moon and The Blind Side. It grossed $43,318,349 worldwide.

### Critical response

Brothers received mixed reviews from film critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64% based on 158 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 31 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Tobey Maguire received critical acclaim for his dramatic performance; Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars and wrote that Brothers is "Tobey Maguire's film to dominate, and I've never seen these dark depths in him before." Claudia Puig of USA Today observed the resemblance between Maguire and Gyllenhaal, and praised their onscreen chemistry. Regarding Portman's performance, Puig opined that it was "subdued and reactive". Writing for New York magazine, David Edelstein praised the three main actors: "Sheridan's actors work with their intellects fully engaged—and they engage us on levels we barely knew we had." He also complimented the cinematography and Sheridan's ability to pull the reader into the plot. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman gave the film a rating of C+, writing, "Brothers isn't badly acted, but as directed by the increasingly impersonal Jim Sheridan, it’s lumbering and heavy-handed, a film that piles on overwrought dramatic twists until it begins to creak under the weight of its presumed significance."

### Accolades

| Year | Ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
| 2009 | 15th Critics' Choice Awards | Best Young Actor / Actress | Bailee Madison | Nominated |
| 2009 | 36th Saturn Awards | Best Action or Adventure Film | Brothers | Nominated |
| 2009 | 36th Saturn Awards | Best Actor | Tobey Maguire | Nominated |
| 2009 | 36th Saturn Awards | Best Actress | Natalie Portman | Nominated |
| 2009 | 36th Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Bailee Madison | Nominated |
| 2009 | 67th Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Tobey Maguire | Nominated |
| 2009 | 67th Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Song | "Winter" by U2 | Nominated |
| 2009 | 2010 Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor – Drama | Tobey Maguire | Nominated |
| 2009 | 2010 Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor – Drama | Jake Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| 2009 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2009 | Best Supporting Actress | Natalie Portman | Nominated |
| 2009 | Denver Film Critics Society Awards 2009 | Best Original Song | "Winter" By U2 | Nominated |

## Home media

Brothers was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 23, 2010.

## Opera adaptation

Brothers – The Opera is an opera based on the original 2004 Danish version of the film by Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason; it was premiered at the Musikhuset Aarhus on 16 August 2017. It was commissioned by Den Jyske Opera. Kerstin Perski wrote the libretto and the director was Kasper Holten. To celebrate Aarhus as the European Capital of Culture 2017, three stage works – a musical, dance, and an opera all based on films by Susanne Bier – were commissioned and performed in Musikhuset.