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.
Gyllenhaal was nominated for Brokeback.
I saw a test screening. Maguire is definitely a contender for supporting. It's better than any performance he's given and actually shocked me how good it was. The movie on a whole is not quite a contender, it's definitely flawed.
I agree this film is weird. I don't know why they aren't at least showing it to people. People are barely aware of it and it comes out in 30 days.
It's starting to remind me of "The Box" or something.
I am the one who "insisted" that they were saving the movie, LOL. Although I just went by what people were saying and ultimately gave it the benefit of the doubt. But I'm having grave concerns now as well. I think what changed my mind was when the film wasn't shown at any festivals during the fall.
It doesn't sound like they have too much faith in this project, despite the people involved.
I also keep hearing about worries regarding the ending. I'm not sure if they changed the ending from the original or what. In the script it was the same. So, I don't know.
At the very least I thought they could perhaps go for some acting noms.
But I think Lionsgate will be pushing "Prescious" and not "Brothers" for Oscars this year. Maybe it was left up to Relativity and they don't know how to put together an Oscar campaign. ???
Either way, I doubt the film goes anywhere. Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead you.
Gyllenhaal was much better than average in Donnie Darko. Not sure if he has many performances like that left in him, but he's still young.
He's definitely got a Travis Bickle thing going on in the trailer so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.