War The Movie

Wartime romance movie “Brothers” starring Jake Gyllenhaal has commenced the inevitable onslaught of Hollywood’s interpretation of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In “Brothers,” Tobey Maguire plays the dutiful and disciplined Capt. Sam Cahill, a soldier who’s been given up for dead in Afghanistan. His wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and two young daughters (Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare) are left bewildered and grieving. Sam’s bad-apple brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), was released from a three-year prison term just before Sam began his tour of duty. Sam, loyal to Tommy, had wanted him to reacclimate to life in the real world, though he couldn’t stick around to help; Grace, on the other hand, plainly dislikes Tommy and would rather not deal with him and his problems, among them excessive drinking and general surliness.” The Salon says the movie is “that rare creature, a picture made for adults” which “brings certain confounding, unresolvable side effects of wartime out of the shadows, without allowing us the feel-good luxury of false, facile compassion.”