REVIEW: Pleasantly Surprising 'Brothers' Treats Troops with Respect

There are few things I hate more in life than movie trailers that give away the entire plot of a movie. One of the things I do hate more is the modern Hollywood war movie, which is invariably anti-war and, worse, reflexively anti-American or anti-troop.

So when I saw the previews for the new film “Brothers,” I was doubly annoyed. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, who starred in the egregiously offensive anti-American film “Rendition” (2007), as well as fellow liberal loudmouth Natalie Portman in addition to Tobey Maguire, “Brothers” had a trailer that seemed to scream out the entire plot: A soldier (played by Maguire) was presumably killed in battle in Afghanistan, which lead to an affair between his widow (Portman) and ne’er-do-well brother (Gyllenhaal) as the brother steps up to help her and her children recover from their loss.

The affair is then disrupted by the fact that Maguire is alive after all, his return heralded in the ads by horror-movie music that makes it look like the entire rest of the movie will center on him being a psychopathic animal, ultimately having a showdown with police in which he screams, “Shoot me!”

Yep, it looked like Hollywood had come back to kick our troops in the teeth again, following the 2007 onslaught of films like “In the Valley of Elah,” “Rendition” and “Redacted” that portrayed our soldiers and CIA officials in the worst possible light imaginable. All three of those films failed miserably, with “Rendition” earning a laughable $9.7 million despite the presence of Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon and Alan Arkin – a box office performance that helped kill its own studio, New Line. The others did even worse business.

Meanwhile a fourth war-themed film, “The Kingdom,” took a more centrist tack and left audiences rooting for the Americans to fight their way out of a deadly situation in Saudi Arabia, even as the Americans’ presence was depicted as morally questionable on some levels. Interestingly, “The Kingdom” was the only film of that group that could be remotely considered a financial success, earning about $50 million before scoring nicely on DVD. The difference, in my opinion: Shockingly, Americans like to cheer rather than jeer their own forces in war films and don’t find it entertaining to see their country and its ideals trashed while having a night out at the movies.

But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by “Brothers.” It’s a much better and richer film than its advertising makes it out to be, which is perhaps a result of its complex themes and plotting. It’s not anti-American, anti-troop, or anti-family – but to explain how or why would require giving away vital and late-blooming plot threads.

What I can reveal about “Brothers” is that it deals with heavy themes that are affecting families nationwide on a daily basis. Heroic men and women are stepping up and facing their marching orders every day, heading into two war zones that unfortunately have incredibly devious enemy forces and vast uncharted terrain. It is fact as well that the stresses involved in battling terrorists who employ guerrilla warfare tactics rather than any form of honor is resulting in large numbers of soldiers dealing with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Tobey Maguire’s character is one of those unfortunate souls driven over the edge of sanity by what he sees in Afghanistan. The key point here in defending this film against the other prior Hollywood dreck is that this film unequivocally shows Maguire as a man in charge of a squad and does so with devotion and honor.

The evils shown or implied in this film are squarely planted on the shoulders of the Taliban forces who capture Maguire and one of his men after their helicopter crashes in the desert, leaving their superiors to unwittingly report them as dead. Maguire is compelled under absolutely shocking duress to commit an atrocity, but the film clearly shows it is a moment of madness, not relish, while ultimately offering him forgiveness and the restoration of his humanity.

And when Maguire is rescued alive and returned home, the slow-burning tension that does in fact lead to the advertised police showdown is portrayed with understanding, restraint and respect for what he went through. Gyllenhaal’s sarcastic, layabout brother transforms from mocking the war and Maguire’s commitment to the military to an honorable man himself. Portman is as devoted a wife after Maguire’s (presumed) death as she was in his life.

Based on a 2004 Danish film called “Brodre” and written by David Benioff, who also plumbed the horrors of Islamic extremism as part of the plot in his adaptation of “The Kite Runner,” “Brothers” offers a sympathetic view of a family torn by war and its heart-rending side effects. Directed by Jim Sheridan, the Irish native whose 2003 masterpiece “In America” offered a highly personal tribute to his adopted homeland and stands as one of the decade’s most underrated films, the movie offers a genuine catharsis of the mixed emotions millions of Americans feel eight years and two presidents into wars with no end in sight.

It’s a bit of tough medicine at times, but it ultimately works as a reminder that family ties are often the strongest connections we have. “Brothers” offers one big step towards respect and understanding for our troops. It’s one Hollywood film that deserves notice and a little bit of praise.