Monday, December 21, 2009

Now Playing: Brothers

So, I get easily distracted from the quest... but it's not my fault! With five of the ten best movie noms not coming out until Christmas day (or later), I had to watch something. Enter, Brothers, an American remake of a Danish film. ...I may just watch the original.

I can see why the film doesn't get a nod, but the acting does; and while Tobey McGuire is definitely front and centre, I thought Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman were excellent as well. All very nuanced performances, with lots of wordless drama. Also, let's not discount the young, and very talented, Bailee Madison. Watch for Miss Madison in the future... there's this one scene at the dinner table, with Madison and McGuire staring at each other in a test wills was so tense, I started biting my nails. Literally. This little actress brings a maturity to this role that I haven't seen since a certain Miss Paquin stormed onto the movie scene.

I thought the ending let a LOT to be desired - I know life is open-ended and rarely do our stories end with neat little bows, but we should have gotten something else. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole movie felt as if something essential was missing: like ice cream with no salt, one can't really pinpoint what's wrong, except to say that something definitely is. A good rental, I think. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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