Strictly Bollocks

In light of recent events that happened in my bedroom, I shall start a new blog series entitled I Can’t Believe I Saw This Only Now, talking about brilliant films of the past (by personal definition, “past” means MORE than two years before posting time), especially ones that I hate myself for not watching immediately when it came out.

I’m sure many people have experienced the same thing – you hear about an upcoming film, you read tons of articles about it, then when it comes out, you were doing something more important (it better be, goddamit), but you still want to see it, but then again for some reason you still didn’t (you moron). And then you end up forgetting about it, and the next opportunity to actually see came more than 2 years after. Umm…yeah, bummer.

And then what’s worse is that it turns out to be this really awesome, this-is-my-kind-of-thing movie, and it makes you shout “Why the hell didn’t I watch this back then???!”

For my very first entry, I chose a film that I only saw last night, and I almost punched the wall because it was so good and I couldn’t believe it took me 4 freakin’ years before I got to see it:

[caption id="attachment_472" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Maguire, Portman, and Gyllenhaal[/caption]

Brothers (2009)

Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman

Director: Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, The Boxer)

Quick Summary:

Okay, so Maguire and Gyllenhaal are brothers, and Portman is married to Maguire. Nope, not exactly a budding love triangle (what, you think this is a chick flick?) Maguire is US Marine Captain sent to war in the Middle East, got caught up in an assault and was thought dead by everyone back at home, when in fact he, along with a private, became a prisoner of war and was starved in a cave for months. Then, Gyllenhaal, the “black sheep” of the family, tried to fill the space left by Maguire particularly within his household where he has two young daughters. Because of Portman’s grief and loneliness, she and Gyllenhaal comforted each other and ended up kissing. Meanwhile, Maguire, after a horrible task he had to perform to ensure his survival (which shall not be divulged – no spoilers here), came back home still carrying the trauma of his captivity. He was already suspicious that his wife and his brother were in an affair, but he initially fought the urge to get furious because of his inner struggle to forget the horrors of his experience in Afghanistan. When things further unfolded, and despite Portman’s confession that it was only a kiss, Maguire finally went ballistic towards her and Gyllenhaal. He starts destroying things in their house and resisting arrest against the police. Towards the end, he had to undergo psychiatric therapy and he finally reveals the whole story to his wife.

Phew! Now let’s see…

The Odyssey-inspired plot is literally thousands of years old, but it was the lead cast’s performances that struck a chord within my drama film-lusting soul, and the fact that it was a typical melodrama made it yummier to my taste. Pardon me.

Way to go, Spidey!

[caption id="attachment_473" align="alignleft" width="360"] Don't you just love the hairdo?[/caption]

I can’t fully describe how mesmerized I was with Maguire. I just saw The Great Gatsby (2013) a month ago and I thought he was a bit catatonic (to be fair, the character didn’t allow much creativity anyway). Before watching Brothers I thought I could never look at Maguire and not think about your friendly neighborhood crawler – but I was surprised. He came out with a hell of a performance. His character was presented as a serious, determined, and dedicated soldier, also described by other characters as having the same qualities even during his school days. His capture and imprisonment in the cave was when Maguire first got my attention. He was supposed to be mentally strong and he showed that by constantly keeping his companion’s spirits up even when all hope seems to be lost.

And the scene near the end where he finally went nuts and started crashing stuff – man, Maguire really went for it. That is why I just downloaded two of his other past films, Wonder Boys (2000) and Seabiscuit (2003).

Gyllenhaal was being Gyllenhaal

[caption id="attachment_486" align="alignright" width="315"] Oh c'mon Dad[/caption]

It was a typical role for him to start with; he only needed to don a tattoo on his neck and grow a considerable volume of beard, and that’s it. Although, I liked every scene whenever he and his sort-of-an-asshole Dad (played by Sam Shepard) were throwing assaults at each other. His Dad really got into my nerves, demeaning his son whenever an opportunity arised, and that was probably why Gyllenhaal was effective in gaining sympathy.

I fell in love with Natalie Portman (again)

[caption id="attachment_492" align="alignleft" width="192"] welcome back, Nat[/caption]

I never liked the young Portman. Didn’t like her in Mars Attacks, not in Star Wars E-1, and not in Cold Mountain. It was really after Closer (2004) that she became one of my celebrity crushes. And even though V for Vendetta (2006) sucked big time, I still enjoyed her presence (it was at the peak of my crush on her). After that, for some reason, she kind of went underground, doing a couple indie films, so my affection sort of wore down. And then BOOM! Black Swan.

I heard about Brothers in 2009 but like I said, I don’t know why I didn’t go for it. There’s a different feel to her in this film, and I really find it insanely cute that she whispers most of her dialogue. Plus, she’s one of those rare celebrities who still look stunning even when crying like hell. She did a lot of crying here, and I think she was perfectly cast as a young I-have-to-be-strong kind of wife and mother. I liked the way she dressed in this film, too. Very homey. God, I love her.

[caption id="attachment_488" align="aligncenter" width="350"] still pretty[/caption]

She’s an Atheist ! See: Natalie Portman doesn’t believe in God or the afterlife

Conclusion

It’s been a long time that a drama film has effectively moved me; I think the last one was The Pursuit of Happyness (yeah, who wasn’t?). Before this, I was not into a lot of dramas recently, but I’m sure as hell glad I am again, and Brothers is an awesome re-introduction. It’s one of those films where every scene just seems to be very well-thought of, and you can really see the performances with intensity, because they don’t go overlapping each other. The film rightfully belongs to Maguire to boast, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of his performances.

[caption id="attachment_490" align="alignleft" width="450"] good casting did the job[/caption]

Highs: Powerful acting from leads, as well as the two children (those girls were damn good), fitting direction, good (albeit common) story

Lows: Very minor: For me, it could have used a little more background story to enhance character development – I just think the events all happened a little too fast. Aside from that, it’s pure awesomeness.