Jim Sheridan’s newest film ‘Brothers’ wrenchingly powerful

By

CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

Irish Voice Reporter

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Director Jim Sheridan with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire on the set of “Brothers”

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Most things may never happen, but this one will -- by the time the 2010 Oscars roll around Irish film director Jim Sheridan, 59, will not only be basking in a slew of nominations, he’s likely to be carrying one home.

Sheridan’s certainly no stranger to the red carpet. His celebrated films like “In America,” “My Left Foot” and “In The Name of the Father” have between them received no less than six previous Academy Award nominations (“My Left Foot” won two) but next year will probably be the year he collects an Oscar for best director.

It’s not difficult to make this prediction. “Brothers,” Sheridan’s latest and most accomplished work to date, finds a way to skillfully address some of the most momentous questions now facing the U.S., but on a human scale, and in the process he inspires some unforgettable performances from his stellar cast.

As the film opens Sheridan (who began his career as a playwright in Dublin before becoming an artistic director at the Irish Arts Center in New York in the 1980s) takes his time setting up the storyline, introducing us to the main protagonists at a leisurely pace.

When straight shooter Sam Cahill (Maguire), a decorated Marine, is shipped out to Afghanistan on his fourth tour of duty, he goes missing when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home his family are quickly informed that he’s been killed and his black sheep brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal) attempts to fill in the void that been created by the loss.

To his own surprise, and to the surprise of his brother’s wife and children, Tommy turns out to be a natural. He quickly assumes a newfound responsibility for himself and his extended family. Grieving over their shared loss brings Tommy and Grace (Portman) together, and the bond threatens to turn romantic.

But it turns out that Sam isn’t dead. He returns to the U.S. looking frail, careworn and brutalized by what he’s been through.

Worse, he suspects his wife and his brother have fallen in love. Add a guilt wracked conscience and post traumatic stress disorder to this powder keg and the film powers forward with a deepening sense of menace.

“When a war’s on everything becomes propaganda and I just had to be careful, you know,” Sheridan tells IrishCentral’s sister publication the Irish Voice. “Here’s a situation where a soldier has to choose between heroic suicide and living. He chooses life. That’s a story and a consequence I can work with.”

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