Movie: Brothers

Brothers stars Toby Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman in a war-related drama.   Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, where Toby plays a respected Marine captain Sam who is sent to a mission in Afghanistan.  Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tommy, who on the the other hand, keeps getting into trouble and frequents the jail because of various crimes.  To their father, he is a disgrace to the family. 


Things change when Toby's helicopter gets shot down and he is listed as deceased by the military.  Now Tommy tries to get his act together and pick up the responsibilities of the family.  This is also accompanied by him being drawn closer to Grace (Natalie Portman), Sam's wife.  Sam eventually is rescued, but when he returns home, he suffers from severe trauma, which he does not fully disclose until the end, and things are not never the same.  This tension ultimately builds to the film's final climax.

Brothers is a remake of the Danish film of the same name.  I have not seen the original movie, but the American version seen by itself is overall a very good film.  Toby and Jake do an excellent job portraying their characters and how they transform during the entirety of the film.  Natalie Portman is equally good as the loving mother and devoted wife, and despite her husband's erratic behavior, is determined to try and make things work.

Brothers「窒愛」，是丹麥片翻拍的美國版，講一對兄弟，哥哥Sam是海軍陸戰隊的隊長，在當地是英雄，也是父親引以為傲的兒子。弟弟Tommy，則是無所事事，時常在外惹事，被關去坐牢，被爸爸唾棄 。哥哥去阿富汗執行任務，直升機不幸被擊落，被軍方認定是身亡。突如其來的惡耗，讓家人難以接受。但因為這樣的打擊，使得弟弟決定改頭換面，挑起家裡的責任。在安慰嫂嫂的過程中，二人也差點墜入愛情，所幸二人都即時都停止。

電影第二個轉折，在於哥哥被救出來，回到了美國的家。但，哥哥在被俘虜其間所遭遇的事，使得他產生了極重的精神上的戰後創傷。他從此性情大變，成了一個不定時炸彈，到影片最後高潮時終於爆發了出來。

哥哥是由蜘蛛人Toby Maguire所飾演，弟弟是Jake Gyllenhaal，而Sam的太太則是Natalie Portman所飾。Toby和Jake將兄弟二角演得很真實，特別是二人在片裡個性上的轉變，要能夠挑戰不同的人物性情，立刻讓人瞧得見，不是特別容易。Natalie Portman除了演盡責的媽媽，也是忠心的妻子，儘管先生面臨了嚴重的問題，仍是站在他身邊，嘗試挽救婚姻。

本片可當做簡單的劇情片來看待，但戰後創傷的可怕，所毀掉的家庭不計起數，此片也達到警惕世人，反戰宣導的功效。