Velvet Buzzsaw

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich

Directed by Dan Gilroy

Written by Dan Gilroy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Starring Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, JB Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, and Jake Gyllenhaal

Directed by Jon Watts

Written by Chris McKenna and Eric Sommers

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Stronger

Stronger (2017)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, and Miranda Richardson

Directed by David Gordon Green

Directed by John Pollono

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Okja

Okja (2017)

Starring Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, An Seo Hyun, Byun Heebong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je Moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Woo Shik Choi, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jake Gyllenhaal

Directed by Bong Joon Ho

Written by Bong Joon Ho and Jon Ronson

***This film is currently streaming via Netflix***

Summary (in 500 words or less): Teenager Mija (An Seo Hyun) has raised a genetically engineered super pig for nearly a decade in the mountains of South Korea, but when the Mirando Corporation headed by Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) comes to take their pig back in order to begin selling its meat, Mija takes matters into her own hands with the help of an animal rights organization.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Life

Life (2017)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya

Directed by Daniel Espinosa

Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

Summary (in 500 words or less): A sextet of astronauts orbiting the Earth attach to a satellite that contains samples from an exploration of Mars.  After discovering that the samples contain evidence of life on Mars, the crew begins completing research, discovering that the lifeform grows very rapidly...and may not be as gentle as they first thought.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Armie Hammer, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen, and Laura Linney

Directed by Tom Ford

There's a line in Nocturnal Animals in which a character mentions that a book was disappointing because she found her mind drifting elsewhere whilst reading it.  The same could be said for the movie Nocturnal Animals, a film that tells a story within a story with neither tale being quite compelling enough to stand on its own and neither tale meshing together in a way that proves to be an all-around satisfying whole.  In his second film, writer-director Tom Ford (a fashion designer in his other line of work) continues to prove that he's got an eye for the visuals, but that he still hasn't quite grasped the storytelling aspect of cinema.

We're first introduced to Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner in Los Angeles, as she morosely mopes around her huge house dealing with an obviously unhappy marriage to her husband (Armie Hammer) who himself is facing some financial troubles.  Soon after, Susan receives a manuscript for a new novel from her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) and she escapes into the book which features a main character who seems an awful lot like her.  As Susan reads, the novel plays out onscreen -- Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal) is driving along a deserted Texas roadway with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber).  A group of frightening men headed by the skeezy Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) run the Hastings off the road and then kidnap the family.  Tony manages to escape but is unaware of where his wife and daughter are being kept so he finds a small-town cop (Michael Shannon) to set out and try to find his family and enact revenge those who committed this crime.

I'm sure that somewhere in the midst of the two tales there are solid connections -- either via visual similarities or storytelling allusions -- but things never came cohesively together for me.  Plus, the Amy Adams side of things is oddly uncompelling in any way.  It doesn't help that Adams shows nary an emotion throughout, presenting an ice queen persona that doesn't allow the viewer to feel sympathy for her despite her mundane life.  The "novel" storyline fares a little better with Gyllenhaal giving a nice performance as the beleaguered father.  Michael Sheen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe respectively for their roles here (and Taylor-Johnson even won), but their characters seemed a bit too one-note to garner any real attention for me.  Frankly, the same could be said for the film itself -- it doesn't really deserve to garner any real attention.  I continue to think that Tom Ford has the potential to be something great, but his two films thus far haven't landed him there.  Maybe sticking to lensing things as opposed to writing them is his road to a better directorial future.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Southpaw

Southpaw (2015)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Naomie Harris, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Oona Laurence, and Rachel McAdams

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

I am by no means a boxing film aficionado, but perhaps my journey into the realm of the Rocky films earlier this year has soured me to any other film outside of Stallone-headed series.  Granted, it's not like Balboa's story wasn't filled with clichés, but some of the flicks at least felt well-written with realistic dialog.  The same can't be said for Southpaw - a film so riddled with silly words and typical storylines that I couldn't invest myself in what I was seeing despite a decent turn from Jake Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope, an undefeated boxer who, after a family tragedy, finds himself spiraling out of control, struggling to make ends meet and unable to keep his daughter Leila (Oona Laurence) who is taken away by Child Protective Services.

Southpaw has moments of almost dramatic brilliance -- a pivotal scene involving Billy and his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) as tragedy strikes; ten year-old Leila angrily and heartbreakingly slapping her father -- but they're surrounded by silliness in a script by Kurt Sutter that does his characters no favors.  It also doesn't help that director Antoine Fuqua's lensing just can't compare to that of Ryan Coogler's who breathed life and vigor into Creed's boxing scenes while Fuqua's appear generic and bland.

Gyllenhaal is solid here, but he's had better performances in the past few years and that's in part due to the fact that Billy Hope feels like an amalgamation of clichéd roles from other sport films.  Forest Whitaker plays Billy's new coach spreading sanctimonious wisdom seemingly culled from self help books every time he opens his mouth.  Oona Laurence is a bit of a bright spot as Hope's beleaguered daughter, but she's given some ridiculous scenes towards the film's end that stifle her character's emotional arc.  Overall, I really don't have much good to say about Southpaw which admittedly is a bit shocking because I had heard plenty of positive things about it.  In this reviewer's opinion, though, it's certainly not even close to being a knock out.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Everest

Everest (2015)

***viewed in 3D***

Starring Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Elizabeth Debicki, Naoko Mori, Emily Watson, and Keira Knightley

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur

To me, there's an insanity that comes with wanting to climb a nearly unclimbable mountain like Mt. Everest.  Shelling out $64,000 to join the Adventure Consultants team headed by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) seems like a crazy notion to me, but mailman Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), doctor and father Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), writer Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly), and forty-eight year-old avid climber Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) are just a few of the people who decided to do such a thing in March 1996.  Everest tells their tragic true story.

While there are certainly moments of sentimentality -- most stemming from the aforementioned climbers' phone calls home to their loved ones (Keira Knightley, Robin Wright) or base camp manager Helen (Emily Watson) -- Everest doesn't harp on them.  In a film that so easily could've created emotional connections between the climbers, Everest is really about Man vs. Nature.  When someone falls off a cliff edge, it's certainly a painful moment and it's greeted with sadness and grief by other climbers, but it's also the nature of the beast.  Don't mistake my writing and think that the film is callous to those who truly lost their lives -- it's not in the slightest.  It's simply that the film is like a docudrama, detailing the incidents with a bluntness we're not necessarily used to seeing in films -- and it works.

The film admittedly takes its time to get going, but director Baltasar Kormákur succeeds in making the build-up to the climb nearly as compelling as the climb itself.  Thanks to the adept screenplay, we learn little tidbits of info about each of our climbers without ever being burdened with big backstories (with the exception of perhaps Rob Hall who leads the expedition and is the main character in the ensemble).  Once we get onto the mountain itself, Kormákur creates an intense atmosphere where that aforementioned bluntness keeps us on a constant edge because we're never really given a warning or a build-up to when bad things are going to happen.

With special effects that are near flawless -- I genuinely felt like I was on Everest making the climb with the group -- Everest is certainly a success.  However, the lack of emotion -- the same thing I praised the film for earlier -- does end up being a slight downfall in the end.  It's the docudrama aspect of the whole affair that doesn't fully allow us in the audience to "feel" for the characters.  Only in the end when the requisite character codas flash up on the screen with "real life" photos of those who lost their lives on the mountain did I actually "feel" something.  The coda is there obviously to remind us that what we witnessed was true and there's no doubt in my mind that ending the film on this note is necessary to pay the proper respect to those who passed away.  However, the end also oddly makes us wish that the film itself inherently created the emotions that are aroused within us when we see the real-life photos.  It doesn't do that and because of that it's a bit too jarring of a conclusion.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Enemy

Enemy (2014)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, and Isabella Rossellini

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

It's difficult to judge a movie that you liked all the way through only to have the final shot throw everything on its head and disappoint you, leaving you feeling lost, confused, and frustrated.  So is the case with Enemy which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an intelligent, though seemingly troubled (or perhaps just bored), college history professor named Adam Bell who, while watching a movie one day, sees a man who looks like his twin.  Intent on finding this lookalike, Adam tracks down Anthony Claire and the two find themselves thoroughly confused by their identical looks.  The twists that happen next are best left unsaid, but the tone in which the story plays out is decidedly creepy and a little unnerving.

And that's certainly not a bad thing as director Denis Villeneuve (who brought us last year's Prisoners which also starred Gyllenhaal) certainly succeeds at keeping things a little unsettled as the film progressed.  Unfortunately, the film has an ending that the vast array of the "normal" moviegoing public will find disappointing.  Rather than give us a logical, sensical ending, the last shot throws everything into a confusing loop.  In certain films, that's okay.  We buy in from the beginning that we're going to be watching something to which we have to pay really close attention, but Enemy didn't present itself that way to me.  I was thoroughly interested in the story all the way through, but I didn't find it overly confusing or convoluted.  I thought I was watching a straightforward film that would presumably have an ending that explained itself.  Instead, the final scene left me befuddled to the point that I had to go online to see what others came up with to explain its nonsensical nature.

Admittedly, upon looking up these "answers" from the online community, I appreciated the different ideas they came up with to "solve" the movie.  However, because I didn't realize I was watching something that was going to throw me for this loop at the end, I felt a little let down.  Had I known that I had to really pay attention and really think about possible twists or "solutions" to the strange notion of doubles/twins/look-a-likes that the film sets up, I may have found the ending a bit more palatable.  Don't get me wrong -- I often like movies that throw a twist in at the end and make you question what came before.  However, oftentimes, the director keys you in on the notion that things aren't quite what they seem as the film progresses.  For some reason, I didn't get that from Villeneuve here -- although, in retrospect, I probably should have considering some of the weird quirks he brings to the table.

Still -- and here's the odd thing -- I really liked Enemy.  Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor has really come alive this year and Enemy is perhaps a better role than his already fantastic performance in Nightcrawler.  Here, Gyllenhaal needs to play two roles with differences that at first seem rather large, but grow much smaller as the film progresses.  Two seemingly polar opposite characters gradually find their characteristics and mannerisms morphing into one as Adam and Anthony get to know each one another, however Gyllenhaal is always able to easily allow the audience to delineate which character we're seeing onscreen -- and that's a huge feat as the story progresses and the two characters' lives begin to intertwine.

In the end, the odd thing about Enemy is that I want to watch it again.  Although disappointed by the conclusion and let down by the notion that this mystery required more "involvement" from the viewer than I was aware I needed to give it, I liked it quite a bit.  So, if you decide to watch it, my suggestion is to "think" while you view.  Be aware that what you're watching isn't as "straightforward" as you think and that the ending will require you to ponder everything that came before it.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler (2014)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton

Directed by Dan Gilroy

Despite a great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, the tale of a bug-eyed scrap metal thief who discovers a penchant for becoming a freelance videographer on the streets of Los Angeles that is Nightcrawler doesn't quite have the bite to fully embrace its obvious attempt at criticizing the news industry's incessant need to shock for ratings.

Gyllenhaal is at his best as Louis Bloom, trimmed down significantly so that his gaunt look stands in juxtaposition to his character's headstrong nature.  Fast talking and quite manipulative, Gyllenhaal's Louis makes us feel uneasy while watching him much as he makes those around him a tad uncomfortable too.  By far the best part of Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal is impressive here fully embodying the character and making the film worth watching for him alone.

Unfortunately, screenwriter Dan Gilroy's directorial debut doesn't match Gyllenhaal's talent.  As a director and in terms of visual aesthetics, Gilroy actually presents a rather fascinating look at the underbelly of a industry and he does so with success in terms of creating a dark and grimy atmosphere.  His screenplay, however, falls a bit short.  First, I never quite bought the concept that a news station would actually purchase and air the rather disturbing images Louis brings to them.  Funnily enough, after watching the film, I've paid much more attention to stories on the local news and none of them have come close to matching the horrors that Louis brings to the newsroom of Rene Russo's Nina, a producer of an early am local news show in LA.  I simply didn't buy into the critique that the film seemed to be selling about local news pushing the envelope.  Had this been a cable news station or perhaps some online news organization, the concept may have been a bit more plausible to me.  I admit that this may seem like an odd fault to find in the film, but not "believing" what it was trying to pitch to me made it more difficult to get behind the flick's premise.

Second, while Louis is a well-conceived (though freaky) character, the rest of the film is inhabited by one note personas that can't hold a candle to Louis's idiosyncrasies.  Russo, in particular, is wasted here, given essentially only reaction shots to Louis's craziness.  Desperate for stories that can keep her job relevant to her bosses, I just couldn't buy into the fact that she would sell her soul (essentially) to Louis to keep her job secure.

Despite my qualms, however, I think Nightcrawler has more pros going for it than cons.  It's a bit slow moving, but Gyllenhaal's presence is so intriguing that you oftentimes forget that not much is going on around him.  It's a decent flick, but not one into which I could completely buy the premise it was selling.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, and Melissa Leo

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

I'm not sure there's something more horrific than being a parent and having something devastating happen to your children.  In Prisoners, when two young girls are kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day from their Pennsylvania neighborhood, I can only imagine the horror going through the heads of parents Keller and Grace Dover (Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello) and Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis).  The pain, anguish, and anger is all on display in Denis Villeneuve's direction of Aaron Guzikowski's script, but the emotional connection with the characters wasn't there for me and it's something that I really long for in a movie like this.

Take my favorite film of last year -- The Impossible -- or one of the best films of the past few years that you've never heard of -- Trust (seriously, check it out) -- and you'll find yourself becoming completely invested in all the characters -- the kids and the adults alike.  In Prisoners, I never felt that emotional tug I desired.  Maybe it's because the two girls go missing so early and we never get an opportunity to really get to know them.  Or maybe it's because Jackman's Keller takes a rather unique approach to enacting revenge on Alex Jones (Paul Dano), the young man initially accused and then cleared of kidnapping the girls, thus maybe subliminally making me not feel so bad for the tortured father.  Regardless, I kept waiting to have some type of guttural response to the story, but that never really happened.

Performances are good, but oftentimes in movies similar to this, they'll be a character(s) that you immediately find yourself connecting with and rallying behind.  Hugh Jackman is certainly supposed to be that guy and I'm sure I was supposed to be affected by Maria Bello's debilitating anguish, but the film never took me there.  Once again, this isn't to say that Jackman and Bello are disappointing.  In fact, this is probably Jackman's best role yet (and I quite liked his role in Les Miserables), taking a very tricky character and making his motivations understandable.

Perhaps it is, in fact, his interactions with Paul Dano that make this movie so difficult to create an emotional resonance for me.  <<MODERATE SPOILERS FOLLOW, ALTHOUGH THE TRAILER ESSENTIALLY REVEALS WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DISCUSS.>>  Dano's Alex Jones is obviously emotionally stunted and psychologically marred.  When Jackman's Keller essentially kidnaps him, we understand Keller's response, but we can't condone it.  And it's maybe this reason why we in the audience can't exactly become as invested in these parents' horror as we'd like.  <<SPOILERS DONE.>>  Dano is creepily fantastic here, though, excelling in a tricky role that somehow manages to walk the line between having the audience both despise and sympathize with him.  Nice turns from Melissa Leo, Viola Davis (who's just great in everything I've seen her in recently) and Jake Gyllenhaal (who, even in this, is a bit overrated in my opinion) round out the cast, but can't fulfill that dramatic oomph I desired.

Listen, it may seem like I'm being overly critical of Prisoners by harping on one particular issue and, quite honestly, I am.  However, Prisoners is good.  It's a smart adult drama with enough twists and turns that make its lengthy running time seem to fly by rather quickly.  Overall, it's the kind of movie that I wish Hollywood created more often.  Admittedly, I think the thing the film prides itself upon -- playing with morality and questioning who's right and who's wrong in certain situations -- hurt its overall resonance with me, yet made it intriguing at the same time.  And, it's for that reason that despite my qualms, it still gets the decidedly good rating I've given it below.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - End of Watch

End of Watch (2012)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, and Natalie Martinez

Directed by David Ayer

End of Watch is a perfectly acceptable realistic "buddy cop" movie about Brian and Mike (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) who work the crime-riddled streets of South Central LA.  As they go through their admittedly difficult and stressful days, they find time to joke around with one another and talk about their significant others -- Brian's got a serious girlfriend in Janet (Anna Kendrick) and Mike is married to Gabby (Natalie Martinez) and they have kids together with another on the way.  When the duo stumble across a human trafficking ring while out doing a routine check on an elderly woman, the Mexican gangs behind the ring are angered and vow to make Brian and Mike pay handily for simply doing their job.

Admittedly, the film is a bit gimmicky.  Brian is taking a college course on filmmaking and he decides to purchase some small cameras that he places in the cop car and on both his and Mike's uniforms in order to film a "day in the life" type documentary about South Central cops.  I actually would've been completely onboard with the concept had director and screenwriter David Ayer had the cojones to stick with it throughout the entirety of the film in a Blair Witch-ian way.  However, the film sometimes cuts to the Mexican gangs and then as it progresses and the action begins to kick up, it abandons the concept altogether at times.  This wasn't necessarily a detriment, but the lack of consistency was noticeable and a bit of a disappointment in terms of the concept.

This film garnered some surprisingly good reviews upon its release last fall and there was even a bit of Oscar buzz surrounding Michael Peña for his role, but for this reviewer, End of Watch didn't stand out in any significant way.  Everything about it was fine and, in fact, better than average, but I was never blown away by anything I was seeing in the acting, directing, or writing department.  This is likely one of the reasons it's taken me over a month to get this review up on the blog.  Despite the lack of anything negative to say about it, there was not a single thing about it that blew me over.  It's solid and you certainly shouldn't be disappointed should you decide to check it out, but I can't help but think End of Watch had a bit more potential than the director brought to it.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Source Code

Source Code (2011)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright

Directed by Duncan Jones

Duncan Jones's previous directorial effort Moon was quite a mindgame and the bigger-budgeted Source Code attempts to be the same thing, but doesn't fare nearly as well.  For all intents and purposes, Source Code is trying to be suspenseful, but instead this 90-minute affair simply plodded along rather than keep me intrigued.

A commuter train headed into downtown Chicago blows up one morning in an act of terrorism killing every onboard.  The government has knowledge that another larger attack is imminent, so in order to try and prevent the second bombing, a new military program called Source Code is called into play.  Air Force pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is essentially placed in the body of a passenger on the train eight minutes prior to it blowing up.  Within those eight minutes (which can be looped over and over again ad infinitum), he must attempt to discover who planted the bomb.  While he can't change the past, he can possibly alter the future by helping the military nab the bomber to prevent the future attack.

The concept of seeing the same thing over and over again with minor changes just flat out bored me (unlike the more successful Groundhog Day which essentially plays up the same basic premise but with a comedic edge).  Dull is an apt word to describe my feelings towards Source Code.  From the direction to the performances to the premise -- all of it can be deemed "dull."  Tack on an ending that completely negates everything that's been told to the viewer throughout the whole film and I can't help but feel that I was somewhat tricked (even though the ending could be seen a mile away).

In the end, the praise and 91% Fresh rating heaped on this film by the Rotten Tomatoes critics is kind of astounding to me.  Yes, it's nice to have more adult-centric, smart films in the marketplace, but this one really lacked an iota of pizzazz needed to sustain my interest.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, and Josh Gad

Directed by Edward Zwick

When womanizing drug rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) travels to Ohio for his new job with Pfizer, he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a no-nonsense gal whose dry humor and unabashed affinity for sex seem to be a perfect fit for him.  Things aren't ideal, though, as Maggie has been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's Disease which any movie-watcher will know will turn this rather nice adult romantic comedy into quite a downer by the film's end.  And that's the problem with Love and Other Drugs, a film that works surprisingly well for its first hour and then never quite finds its footing during its final half when it unsuccessfully attempts to pull at my emotional heartstrings.

I'm not afraid to admit that Jake Gyllenhaal's Jamie is charming here.  It's not surprising to see why Anne Hathaway's Maggie who was adamant about not being in a "relationship" quickly falls for him.  Hathaway also exudes a wry sense of humor and isn't the least bit hesitant to show off her body (which certainly won't garner complaints from me).  The two of them have a good chemistry here during the film's first more humorous half.  Their two light-hearted personalities mesh quite well together.  However, neither Gyllenhaal nor Hathaway pulled me in enough to really give a damn when the film veered towards the dramatic during the final 45 minutes. 

It certainly doesn't help that the two actors are forced to change seemingly with the snap of the director and screenwriter's fingers from lighthearted romance to melodramatic disease-of-the-week Lifetime movie.  What should have ultimately been touching and moving doesn't work because it feels like we're watching two separate movies (and that's more the fault of director Ed Zwick and the trio of screenwriters including Zwick himself).  It also doesn't help that the latter half is peppered with unnecessary and poorly written jabs at the state of the American health care system.  These asides just come off as silly and desperate.

Still, I genuinely liked Love and Other Drugs for about an hour.  I found myself laughing at Gyllenhaal, Hathaway, and side players like Oliver Platt as Jamie's co-worker and Josh Gad as Jamie's brother (a character plopped into the film only to provide laughs...something I usually hate, but really kind of liked here).  I just wish the second half could have resonated with me instead of falling flat.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Brothers (2009)

Starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham, Carey Mulligan, Clifton Collins, Jr., and Bailee Madison

Directed by Jim Sheridan

There's something so emotionally gut-wrenching about watching the family members of a soldier being told that their courageous war hero has died in battle. As evidenced by the stellar film The Messenger earlier in 2009, the reactions of the family when they're told of the horrific news really seem to get to me. This holds true in Brothers, and although my fellow moviegoer (the poster known as "Anonymous" around these parts) will disagree entirely, I was quite moved by this surprising little movie. The emotional triangle that's crafted in this tale is entirely believable and certain scenes here packed quite a wallop.

Captain Sam Cahill (Maguire) has a loving family and as he heads off to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty, he knows that his wife, Grace (Portman), will hold down the fort with his two daughters (played by Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare in two of the most effective "young actor" roles this year). With his father (Sam Shepard) and mother-in-law (Winningham) helping out, Sam heads off to war feeling like things will be okay. The only wild card in the situation is his brother, Tommy (Gyllenhaal), who was released from prison a mere two days before he ships out. After serving his time for robbing a bank, Tommy's a loose cannon who appears to be resorting back to his old alcoholic ways.

After a few months in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. The devastating news hits each family member in a different way, but it causes Tommy to begin to realize his hurtful ways and he begins to help out Grace and the two young girls. Seeing a new side of Tommy and being an emotional wreck herself, Grace is quite befuddled, and, one night, Grace and Tommy kiss. Although they both realize they can't begin to consummate this relationship, they both know they have feelings towards one another. And those feelings only become more confusing when Sam, as it turns out, is discovered alive and returns home, emotionally ravaged by the heinous things he was forced to do as a prisoner of war.

I bought into this movie from the very beginning. I didn't feel a false note onscreen at all. True, Tobey Maguire isn't my favorite actor and there were moments where I felt he went a little overboard (he's "wide-eyed" way too much), but he also has an amazing scene at the end that simply riveted me. Gyllenhaal is fine and Portman continues to be a joy for me to watch. Supporting turns from Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham as the parents of Sam and Tommy were excellent, and the two young daughters of Sam and Grace were incredible. In many flicks, kids can either be too cloying or too smart for their age, but every scene the two girls were in here rang true. [Although, as I said in my last review of a Clifton Collins, Jr., movie, Mr. Collins is not a good actor despite his ubiquitousness this year.]

Brothers certainly takes its time, but it manages to explore every family members' emotions in a way that isn't often seen in movies. From the little girls to their older grandfather and everyone in between, all their feelings are unearthed. There's definitely something special going on here.

The RyMickey Rating: B+