brothers.

Though I have not seen the Danish version of this film, which I've heard is amazing, I thought this film did a great job at what it set out to do. Upon first viewing the trailer during theatre previews, I remembered thinking, "Oh, this looks like a heartfelt husband dies in war, wife moves on and continues life cute, but sad, type of story"... Until it was revealed that the husband comes home, experiences mental turmoil, and all hell breaks loose. At that point, I knew I had to see it.

There was a lot of emotion, detail, and intense moments throughout the course of this movie. There were significant character arcs, and the actors' performances were great. If anything, Jake Gyllenhaal was slightly underused in his role as the brother. It might be interesting to see his and Toby Maguire's roles reversed. I didn't even notice Natalie Portman was the wife at first, she was a great choice as she's an exceptional actress and has great range with her facial expressions. The only part I didn't buy so much, was the relationship between Maguire's character and his daughters, it seemed a little forced, and awkward. I'm not sure if I'm just picturing him as Spider-Man a little too much or not. The eldest daughter may have overacted a little bit too.

**SPOILERS**

In terms of the story, the relationship between Portman and Gyllenhaal made sense, but happened way too fast. Same goes for Gyllenhaal's character realization and change- how could one go from bad ass, to prison, to home remodelling, supportive, father-like figure in what seemed like a week? I'm just glad the movie didn't turn into a chick flick during these sequences, and held it's integrity. The pairing between Maguire and Gyllenhaal was unique, but it wasn't as natural or entirely believable for them to be brothers, as it should've been or as one might hope.

The war segments of the movie were very effective, and intimidating. You want to know what will happen next, but at the same time are aware that the more the story progresses, the closer someone is to getting brutally hurt or murdered. What Maguire's character had to go through in order to survive, was insane.

The tension, and insecurities in this movie made it impossible to stop watching. Maguire, a once friendly father, was now an emotionless, scary looking shell of who he once was. He did an amazing job with this roll. Maguire made it seem as if he'd actually endured the same devastating experiences as his character. The scene to remember was when he was entirely too suspicious of his wife and his brother, that he took a gun and almost shot himself in the head, in the middle of the front lawn. The close-up on his face was so intensely enticing; I couldn't stop watching though I feared something horrible would happen.

"Brothers"- a water balloon of emotion thrown at a brick wall. I recommend it to everyone, and hope this movie aids in spreading the message that there is no excuse for war, and that family and love is what matters.