Brotherhood (I) (2010)

Adam Buckley finds himself in the middle of a convenience store robbery during his last night as a pledge for a college fraternity. When the initiation ritual goes horribly wrong, and every... See full summary »

Director:

Will Canon

Writers:

Will Canon, Doug Simon

Stars:

Trevor Morgan, Jon Foster, Lou Taylor Pucci

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Trevor Morgan	...	Adam Buckley
Jon Foster	...	Frank
Lou Taylor Pucci	...	Kevin
Arlen Escarpeta	...	Mike
Jesse Steccato	...	Bean
Jenny Shakeshaft	...	Emily (as Jennifer Sipes)
Luke Sexton	...	Graham
Chad Halbrook	...	Jackson
Preston Vanderslice	...	Scott
Tyler Corie	...	Curtis
Evan Gamble	...	Tyler
Katherine VanderLinden	...	Janet
Jeff Gibbs	...	Officer Jennings
Jack O'Donnell	...	Dr. Meyers
Meyer DeLeeuw	...	Collin

Storyline

Adam Buckley finds himself in the middle of a convenience store robbery during his last night as a pledge for a college fraternity. When the initiation ritual goes horribly wrong, and every move proves disastrous, Adam is forced to confront a new challenge all together, and he has to take a stand.

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Plot Keywords:

robbery | fraternity | convenience store | gas station | toilet seat | 

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Taglines:

Every Night Was a Party. One Night Went Too Far.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 2010 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Untitled Roslyn Project

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hunting Lane Films, Instinctive Film, Roslyn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Frank: Alright, like I said before, I wouldn't make you pussies do anything I wouldn't do first.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.6 (2011)

User Reviews

A litmus test for your ability to connect with today's college experience.

The film "Brotherhood" is actually a litmus test for your ability to connect with today's college experience. If you are in touch with today's typical college fraternity/sorority lifestyle, you will likely think this film is excellent. If you are mostly out of touch, you will not likely connect to this film. Originally I rated this film 8 out of ten, but I changed it to 9 out of 10, simply because of the performances given by this film's rising stars, but I will get into that later.

If you consider yourself "middle of the road" when it comes to understanding college social scenes, see how you feel about this movie

• it may help you decide how well you understand college life today, if

you were asked this same question.

From what I can tell, the story is indeed fictional but based on real experiences and 'folk lore' or 'urban legends' of college life. Although I am not going to go into specific plot details, it is generally well-crafted and fun to watch.

From my previous movie reviews, I have a keen eye for performance. What stood out to me was the girl that came looking for her 'personal belongings' halfway through the story. At first glance, I was sure I had seen her in other movies, but I couldn't recall where. My trusty IMDb iphone app identified her to be Jennifer Sipes. This actress made the movie for me. If you do get a chance to see this film in theaters, her performance alone is worth the price of admission. There is something that really shines bright with her. Lou Taylor Pucci also does a very very good job. I was lucky enough to see "The Music Never Stopped" at Sundance and I think his performance in Brotherhood is at the same level. Jon Foster comes through as well, although his strength as an actor did not shine as bright as Jennifer Sipes and Lou Taylor Pucci. I don't blame Jon Foster, this is a small indie film, and he sometimes stumbles a little with delivery, slightly depreciating his performance, but I suspect this was due to a very compacted shooting schedule. I eagerly anticipate Jon's future performances in big budget studio films, because I think with a proper shooting schedule, he will really take off. Trevor Morgan to me was just OK. Unfortunately I could see him 'acting' at certain points. If you see this film on the big screen, you will see Pucci dominate Morgan in scenes that the two are in (from a purely acting perspective). Once again, I think Trevor Morgan had a tough job in this film, thus making it more difficult to perform with a short shooting cycle. Nonetheless, he is responsible for his screen presence, and he didn't meet my expectations. The scenes that Trevor Morgan and Arlen Escarpeta square off are the slowest of the film, and in my opinion, should be left out. It simply doesn't work as intended.

In summary, I would recommend this film. It rides along at a fast pace, comparable to a typical 'night-gone-wrong' thriller. Overall performances are good, but look for Lou Taylor Pucci and even more so Jennifer Sipes - Two actors with a very bright future. Jon Foster is close behind, and also has a big career ahead of him. I will give fair warning that you may find this film really, really, irritating if you are not connected to college life today, but if you are, you will associate well to the language, the pranks/initiations, and the race relations, all realistic and decently put together. What really separates this film from other indies in this genre is the acting. If for nothing else, see it for some inspiring performances by Hollywood's future stars.