Can a film that has pretty much zero Oscar buzz come out of nowhere to get some? Seems unlikely especially in the case of a film like Jim Sherdian’s “Brothers” that feels like its been delayed indefinitely (despite the insistence of some who claim it was simply just saved for the following year).
The script we read for “Brothers” was ok, it didn’t blow us away and the trailer didn’t quite dazzle either (Tobey Maguire appears as a bit of a one-note villain), but we’d be lying if we said the film didn’t intrigue us.
Sheridan obviously has a lot of Oscar history behind him (“My Left Foot,” “In The Name Of The Father,” and the seemingly underrated “In America”), but “Brothers” — a remake of Susanne Bier’s excellent, but rather harrowing 2004 Danish film, “Brodre” — has not an ounce of Oscar talk around it despite a good cast of Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal (then again, Gyllenhaal and Maguire are average actors who can conceivably go their entire careers without a nomination… but oh forgot, Gyllenhaal eked out a Best Supporting nod for “Brokeback Mountain,” but obviously it was Ledger that made that film).
The film is less than a month away from release and yet no one is still talking about it (part of that is still probably due to the fact that no one has seen it). But the L .A. Times did recently catch up with Maguire who talked about this post-Iraq war drama and it sounds like he might have taken the whole experience a little too seriously. The original is pretty emotionally brutal. It’s about a young man (Gyllenhaal) who comforts his older brother’s wife (Portman) and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. When the psychologically tortured and maladjusted solider (Maguire) is found alive and returns home, all hell breaks loose.
“I lost a lot of my joy while doing the movie,” Maguire told the Times.” “I wasn’t even aware of it. I don’t mean it to sound goofy or artsy or something, but two days before we wrapped, I started telling some jokes and laughing, whatever, and it was like a release for me. I hadn’t done that in, like, two months.”
Maguire apparently lost 20lbs to play the role. “The general sort of tone of the piece and the character stuck with me — it was more like a mood. I was in a mood for two months. Then when it started to release, I started laughing and loosening up and my body felt different. I was like, ‘Wow. This has been so tough.’ ” The LA Times has obviously seen it, they say, “The film isn’t all gloom, although most of the warmth emanates from scenes with his brother (Gyllenhaal) and wife (Portman) before his rocky return.” That sounds like code for, “this is a dark and bleak” film, which is pretty much what the original was, but it’s also quite powerful and full of humanity.
The film is scheduled to hit December 4, in the heart of Oscar season, so clearly Lionsgate has hopes for it, but it remains to be seen if it will make even the smallest of dents with the Academy, or even critics. Something does smell off here. Sheridan movies generally are ranked as possible contenders, but it’s practically as is film writers and pundits have even forgotten this film exists.