Brothers – War doesn’t end when the soldiers come home.
Brothers – War doesn’t end when the soldiers come home.
Rated: R Time: 1:50
Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Bailee Madison, Clifton Collins Jr., Jennifer Wade and others
Final Grade: B+
We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s not over until the fat lady sings…” For soldiers on the line, the fat lady doesn’t even come on stage until long after they get home.
Sam Cahill (Maguire) is a high school football quarterback who married his high school cheerleader sweetheart Grace (Portman). They live in a small house with two incredibly smart, precocious and cute little girls. Sam’s father Hank (Shepard) was a Marine in ‘Nam and now Sam’s on his way to Afghanistan for his second tour of duty. Before leaving, he makes a trip to pick up his brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal), the black sheep of the family, who’s being released from jail.
After a rather rough last family meal, Sam is back in a helicopter on patrol somewhere over Afghanistan when he and his men are shot down in a remote location. Sam and another member of his squad are taken prisoner. Grace is in the tub at home when she gets the visit dreaded by all military families. Presuming that all were lost in the crash, the Marines notify Grace of her husband’s loss, telling her he is listed as a casualty, having been killed in action in Afghanistan.
Seeing Grace and the girls’ needs after losing their father, Tommy starts showing up to help with things around the house, renovate the kitchen and keep the girls company. He soon becomes part of the family. The girls love their uncle and Grace is starting to show an interest in Tommy, the person, more than Tommy, the handyman.
Then comes the call. Sam is alive.
While his family has been rebuilding itself and the house is being remodeled, Sam and his squad mate have been Afghan prisoners and, although they were both subjected to major brutalities, Sam makes it home. His fellow Marine does not.
Clearly, Sam returns a different person because of the experiences he had while in captivity. And so, the rebuilding of Sam and his family begins.
Tobey Maguire, best known for his role as a super hero, does a nice job handling the role of a Marine who goes from family man to war casualty. You won’t be thinking about Spiderman when this movie is over. Natalie Portman plays a compelling role as the beautiful wife who’s lost the high school sweetheart she’s loved since she was 16 years old. She is believable in how she portrays the wife’s need to rebuild her life and her family, not once, but twice in a very short period of time.
The story is touching, yet sobering. At the end, especially as our president prepares to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, we’re reminded that the casualties of war do not only come home in a casket. Many war casualties carry their injuries in ways we don’t see, yet their pain is as real and as deep as the soldier who loses a limb. The story reminds us that, when we send a soldier to war, we send a family to war.
I’m Don Rima, and that’s the way I saw it, From Where I Stand.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
