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Youth in Revolt

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Time To Show Brothers

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Last night Envelope/Notes on a Season columnist Pete Hammond wrote with some enthusiasm about a Sunday DGA screening of Jim Sheridan's Brothers (Lionsgate, 12.4), the remake of Susanne Bier's 2004 film with Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman costarring.

Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal in Jim Sheridan's Brothers.

Hammond asked "why no bloggers are buzzing about Brothers even with its Dec. 4 opening less than a month away"? Well, I've been writing about this film for over two years now, beginning with a start-of-filming announcement and into a 10.1.08 report that MGM had bumped Brothers out of a once-planned 12.4.08 release.

But to answer Hammond, no one's blogging about Brothers because Lionsgate has been lagging on press screenings invites, or at least none as far as this inbox is concerned. I'm told there's some kind of "special screening" in Manhattan slated for 11.22, and an L.A. premiere screening set for 12.1. Sheridan is currently in Toronto preparing to shoot Dream House, a psychological thriller with Daniel Craig starring. He flies to Ireland tomorrow and returns to this side of the pond a week or so later.

Sheridan's remake follows Bier's basic story. Maguire and Gyllenhaal are the brothers separated by character and philosophy (as well as four inches of height). Maguire is the older, "responsible," married brother who goes off to Afghanistan and gets into a situation that results in a MIA report sent home. Portman plays Maguire's wife. Gyllenhaal is the younger fuck-up brother who begins to fill his brother's familial duties when Maguire disappears during a skirmish and is presumed dead.

Lionsgate is obviously much more interested in promoting Precious than Brothers at this stage, and who can blame them? But conspicuously not screening a film that will be released nearly three weeks hence seems like a weird way to play it. Being a huge fan of Bier's original work, I refuse to believe that a film with this story and a cast of this calibre wouldn't deliver in a significant and applaudable way.

"This powerful and timely story of a decorated Marine, presumed dead in Afghanistan, who comes home to great conflict within his family and within his own head, is a poignant and explosive look at the toll that combat exacts from veterans' lives," Hammond writes. "It feels especially pertinent now in the wake of the Ft. Hood tragedy and shows that war doesn't really end for some vets once they return.

"Sheridan received a tremendous ovation Sunday afternoon when he was introduced for a q & a after a very well-received Directors Guild of America screening. The free-wheeling director engaged in a refreshingly honest and thoughtful conversation about the film's bumpy journey to being remade.

"Sheridan pointed out that he doesn't normally like the idea of remakes, but this one seemed irresistible, if full of minefields. In the end he believes it is quite faithful to the spirit of the Danish original and said Relativity Media, which financed the film, even did research screenings on Bier's movie to get a take from an American audience for help in shaping the redo.

"[Sheridan] also mentioned there were some reshoots as he tried to get a grip on what the movie should be.

"The film was finished by November 2008 but Relativity agreed to hold it for a year to get just the right release date. Sheridan says selling any film with a war theme is tricky and fall is a better time for this particular subject matter. With Summit's widely acclaimed Iraq war flick, The Hurt Locker opening last summer, it was probably a wise move."

Jim Sheridan, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Hereafter<< previous | next >>Young Guy vs. Precious

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 10, 2009 at 7:44 AM

comment #1

robbiefantastic says ...

the trailer for this played before the screening of a serious man (great film, by the way) i was at last week and r the part where toby is egging on the cops to shot him drew nothing but snickers from the people in attendence.....myself included. i don't know, after joke that was spiderman 3 it's hard to take toby seriously...

i'll probably see it though, i'll see natalie portman's hot ass in anything....

Posted by robbiefantastic at November 10, 2009 10:26 AM

comment #2

actionman says ...

the original was wrenching but very well done

i look forward to this version

Posted by actionman at November 10, 2009 10:29 AM

comment #3

Circumvrent says ...

The trailer is cut like a cross between a Lifetime movie and THE STEPFATHER remake. It got a lot of laughs before MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS on Friday.

Posted by Circumvrent at November 10, 2009 11:14 AM

comment #4

Colin says ...

I had no idea Brothers was going to be so tense. That trailer sold it for me.

Posted by Colin at November 10, 2009 11:18 AM

comment #5

LexG says ...

This is going to be awesome; The poster is very striking, the trailer looks solid, and yeah, I was wondering if there isn't some year-end awards potential...

And what's the countdown -- 'cuz I GUARANTEE it's coming -- to the Breitbart/Medved/Dirty Harry types finding in BROTHERS a new punching bag in their HOLLYWOOD HATES AMERICA! crusade? Soon as I saw that it features a returning soldier apparently going unhinged, I could practically write the fucking John Nolte column that's sure to be forthcoming on Big Hollywood.

Because any shy of a soldier being portrayed as Jesus himself, with glowing beams of light around him as he downs apple pie and coaches Little League under a golden cross is sheer proof that Hollywood hates the heartland!

Posted by LexG at November 10, 2009 11:50 AM

comment #6

115thDreamer says ...

Um, yeah, Tobey is overdoing the post-traumatic stress stare I think....doesn't come off as a just-returned soldier so much as some sort of psycho serial killer. Legder showed more restraint in "The Dark Knight", I think.

Posted by 115thDreamer at November 10, 2009 11:54 AM

comment #7

Geoff says ...

I haven't seen the theatrical trailer, but I saw an ad for this on television last night and circumvrent isn't too far off with the LIfetime Moviel and Stepfather remake comparison.

Posted by Geoff at November 10, 2009 12:11 PM

comment #8

Stringer Bell says ...

Tobey looks like DJ AM in the stills.

Posted by Stringer Bell at November 10, 2009 12:26 PM

comment #9

Chase Kahn says ...

Well if Pete Hammond digs it, I'm there! Already bought my tickets for "The Blind Side", too.

No seriously, I actually don't think this looks that bad, although I think "Pearl Harbor" is a more apt description than "The Stepfather".

The problem with the trailer is that the end is just mixed way too loudly -- it's like geez, we get it, tap the breaks...

Posted by Chase Kahn at November 10, 2009 12:28 PM

comment #10

ZayTonday says ...

lol it's like pearl harbor without the special effects amirite guyz

Posted by ZayTonday at November 10, 2009 12:52 PM

comment #11

BurmaShave says ...

I think Ft. Hood killed this film. No one wants to see troubled soldiers right now.

Posted by BurmaShave at November 10, 2009 1:43 PM

comment #12

DarthCorleone says ...

I saw the ad last night as well. They are really playing up the melodrama in that spot.

Posted by DarthCorleone at November 10, 2009 2:03 PM

comment #13

reverent and free says ...

That trailer looks like something someone made for a YouTube mashup. One second you're settling in for a Nicholas Sparks tearjerker the next you're assaulted with lines like "I thought you were dead", "You're jealous that Mommy would rather sleep with Uncle Tom", "Shoot me! Shoot me!". And then you're back to the U2 song. What do they expect someone to do but laugh at that?

Posted by reverent and free at November 10, 2009 2:35 PM

comment #14

LYT says ...

When I saw the poster, I thought it was for some sci-fi movie about cloning.

But mainly I'm not excited because Jim Sheridan doesn't excite me. His movie with 50-Cent was lame, and In America indulged the absolute worst "magic negro" cliches. Maybe he'll be more tolerable when he's not trying to understand black America, which, contrary to his expressed belief, is not the same thing as lower-income Ireland.

Posted by LYT at November 10, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #15

Gordon27 says ...

Jim Sheridan is basically an arthouse hack. He makes arthouse movies that feel really impersonal and hit all the standard notes for their plotlines. I'm not saying he's got no talent, and I'm not saying a word against 'My Left Foot'. I'm just saying, overall, his career path is that of a hack, but in the arthouse.

Posted by Gordon27 at November 10, 2009 6:25 PM

comment #16