Brothers - Zwei Brüder. Eine Liebe

Großartige Schauspielerei, darum geht es ja hier eigentlich letzten Endes überhaupt. Anders als die Autorin der Originalversion, Susanne Bier, hat sich der erfahrene Jim Sheridan hier eindeutig für einen fließenden und orthodox melodramatischen Stil entschieden - Brothers sind handwerklich gut ausgeführt sowie straff, sie vermögen es, auf den ersten Blick einen tiefgründigen Eindruck zu hinterlassen, jedoch nach dem Anschauen bleibt eine seltsame Leere übrig. Der Film verbirgt nämlich nichts unter der aufgepeppten Fassade als eine Art sorgfältigen Pazifismus und einer einfachen Psychologie. Und U2-Musik passt hier gut dazu. All diese Glattgebügeltheit sowie die dezenten moralischen Appelle sind leicht mit ideologischer Unbesiegbarkeit zu verwechseln. (07.02.2010)

Eine "schwierige Psychologie“ nach amerikanischer Art, d. h. ein bisschen platt, aber emotional stark. Die Figuren sind ausgezeichnet dargestellt, man glaubt ihnen in jedem Augenblick; die gespannten Szenen im Irak sind beeindruckend, das Ende rührend. Und Natalie Portman ist die dream-come-true Ehefrau von fast jedem Mann. (26.01.2010)

All three leads in this movie are showing off here that they work hard for their actor’s wages. The movie is a very nice intimate drama where I'm just not very happy with the ending, so I guess that's why I'm giving it 3 stars. The trailer was a bit misleading for me, I was assuming things that never happened, which is quite a shame because I kind of wished they had (when you see it you’ll understand). I haven't seen the original film, and I don't want to see it. This was enough for me. Maybe I'm just a little more disappointed because I was looking forward to it so much. So – if you want to see some human pain, some human happiness, enjoyable performances by the actors, and a shitty war, this movie is made for you. It's just quite possible that you'll be annoyed at times by the over-smart little girls, but that's become such a trend now, so you just had to get used to it. (11.01.2010)

Even though I didn’t watch the Danish original, I was able to figure out how the story would develop after ten minutes or so, and that’s pretty much all I can criticise Brothers for. A strong topic, excellent direction and brilliant performances by the main trio. Some of the final scenes strongly reminded me of last year’s performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. Maguire’s character gave me goosebumps several times and I can imagine him in a psychological horror film. Strong four stars. (30.12.2009)

Jim Sheridan approached it cleverly. He doesn't turn the cold atmosphere of the original film into emotional blackmail, but still doesn't want to immerse the viewer in the same filth as the characters. He maintains a reasonable distance with a creatively crafted soundtrack and warm camera work, and surprisingly wins the battle against comparison to the original. The original Brothers and their all-encompassing depression lost strength at certain moments, but here the irretrievable loss of idyll due to its more honest depiction is even more fatal. 85% (09.02.2010)