Brothers

Brothers ~ This intense 2009 melodrama is a remake of the critically acclaimed Danish film Brodre. It’s powerful melodrama and if this flick has one flaw it is that it is melodrama.

Sam and Tommy are brothers. As ne’er-do-well Tommy returns from prison for a drinking offense, Sam is shipping off to the Middle East again. When Sam is apparently killed, Tommy, not by design, moves in on Sam’s wife and kids. Tortured by the enemy, Sam finally returns home a changed man. And that’s when the trouble really starts.

Tobey Maguire’s Sam is an acting tour de force – where is his Oscar nom? He deserved it just as much as Jeremy Renner certainly. This film reveals the creepiness that was always bubbling under his performances and shows it off scarily. Jake Gyllenhaal as Tommy and Natalie Portman as Sam’s wife are so entrenched in their characters the actors are nearly unrecognizable. And when did Mare Winningham go from brat packer to matronly actress?

Brothers also has a phenomenal score by Thomas Newman and a soundtrack that strongly features “Water” by U2. And that’s saying a lot as I am so not a U2 fan. This flick is highly recommended.

The Good Girl

MIKE WHITE IS A GENIUS

A Film Review of The Good Girl

Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly says "A comedy of winning delicacy and heart." Andrew Johnston of Us Weekly says "A fantastic performance from Jennifer Anniston with range and depth." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone says "Sly, comic and touching." All I want to know is... WHAT MOVIE DID THEY SEE????

All I have to say is screenwriter Mike White is a genius. He managed to screw me out of eight dollars, get me into a theatre playing a Jennifer Anniston movie and make me sit there for 93 agonizing minutes. This is easily the worst movie I have seen this year. It almost makes Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace palatable. Ten minutes in I was screaming "Good God, will it ever end?!"

The multi-talented (Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? Yes! That's right, it's sarcasm!) Jennifer Anniston plays a white trash retail cashier who cheats on her no good pothead husband (John C. Reilly of Gangs of New York and The Perfect Storm) with a sociopathic young writer (Jake Gyllenhaal of Donnie Darko and the equally brilliant Bubble Boy) who also works with her.



Jennifer Anniston's idea of depth is staring off into space for moments at a time. Who said being married to Brad Pitt hasn't taught her anything about acting. I would say Jake Gyllenhaal was good if he didn't play the same character in every movie he's in. The one or two actual funny lines that Zooey Deschanel utters over the store loudspeakers are not worth the hell of sitting through this piece of crap but she has the charisma to maybe make something of herself.

Toward the end of this merciless marathon I prayed for someone to come out of the darkness with an axe a la Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl and kill them all. Probably the only good thing about this experience was that I didn't have to sit through previews of Blue Crush and Swimfan. Now, wait a minute... that might have been an improvement. Rating: *



***** Must see

**** Worth seeing

*** So you have eight dollars you want to throw away…

** Is Adam Sandler in this mess?

* A bullet would be quicker.


The above previously published at Project: Popcorn
http://www.whitevioletpictures.com/popcorn