Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Brothers

  • 20092009
  • RR
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
131K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
398
104
Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
Sam Cahill (Maguire) returns from being held as a prisoner-of-war in Afghanistan to find that his ex-con brother (Gyllenhaal) has become the man, of sorts, of the household where Sam's wife, Grace (Portman) had been living under the assumption that she was a widow.
Play trailer2:02
10 Videos
52 Photos
DramaThrillerWar
While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's copter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess b... Read allWhile on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's copter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's copter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
131K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
398
104
    • Jim Sheridan
    • David Benioff(screenplay)
    • Susanne Bier(motion picture "Brødre")
    • Anders Thomas Jensen(motion picture "Brødre")
  • Stars
    • Jake Gyllenhaal
    • Natalie Portman
    • Tobey Maguire
    • Jim Sheridan
    • David Benioff(screenplay)
    • Susanne Bier(motion picture "Brødre")
    • Anders Thomas Jensen(motion picture "Brødre")
  • Stars
    • Jake Gyllenhaal
    • Natalie Portman
    • Tobey Maguire
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 271User reviews
    • 211Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos10

    Brothers: UK Trailer
    Trailer 2:02
    Watch Brothers: UK Trailer
    Brothers: "Forbidden" TV Spot
    Trailer 0:32
    Watch Brothers: "Forbidden" TV Spot
    Brothers: Trailer #2
    Trailer 1:02
    Watch Brothers: Trailer #2
    Brothers -- Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:28
    Watch Brothers -- Trailer #1
    "Kiss" from Brothers
    Clip 1:00
    Watch "Kiss" from Brothers
    "I'm No Hero" from Brothers
    Clip 0:35
    Watch "I'm No Hero" from Brothers
    Brothers (2009)
    Interview 1:04
    Watch Brothers (2009)
    Brothers (2009)
    Interview 0:46
    Watch Brothers (2009)
    Brothers (2009)
    Interview 2:04
    Watch Brothers (2009)
    Brothers (2009)
    Interview 1:04
    Watch Brothers (2009)

    Photos52

    Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire in Brothers (2009)
    Natalie Portman, Bailee Madison, and Taylor Geare in Brothers (2009)
    Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Bailee Madison, and Taylor Geare in Brothers (2009)
    Mare Winningham and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Tobey Maguire, Jim Sheridan, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Natalie Portman and Bailee Madison in Brothers (2009)
    Tobey Maguire in Brothers (2009)
    Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
    Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bailee Madison, and Taylor Geare in Brothers (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jake Gyllenhaal
    Jake Gyllenhaal
    • Tommy Cahill
    Natalie Portman
    Natalie Portman
    • Grace Cahill
    Tobey Maguire
    Tobey Maguire
    • Capt. Sam Cahill
    Sam Shepard
    Sam Shepard
    • Hank Cahill
    Mare Winningham
    Mare Winningham
    • Elsie Cahill
    Bailee Madison
    Bailee Madison
    • Isabelle Cahill
    Taylor Geare
    Taylor Geare
    • Maggie Cahill
    Patrick John Flueger
    Patrick John Flueger
    • Private Joe Willis
    • (as Patrick Flueger)
    Clifton Collins Jr.
    Clifton Collins Jr.
    • Major Cavazos
    Carey Mulligan
    Carey Mulligan
    • Cassie Willis
    Omid Abtahi
    Omid Abtahi
    • Yusuf
    Navid Negahban
    Navid Negahban
    • Murad
    Ethan Suplee
    Ethan Suplee
    • Sweeney
    Arron Shiver
    Arron Shiver
    • A.J.
    Ray Prewitt
    • Owen
    Rebekah Wiggins
    Rebekah Wiggins
    • Marine Wife #1
    Carrie Fleming
    • Marine Wife #2
    Jenny Wade
    Jenny Wade
    • Tina
      • Jim Sheridan
      • David Benioff(screenplay)
      • Susanne Bier(motion picture "Brødre")
      • Anders Thomas Jensen(motion picture "Brødre")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Southpaw
    7.3
    Southpaw
    Nightcrawler
    7.8
    Nightcrawler
    Demolition
    7.0
    Demolition
    Brothers
    7.5
    Brothers
    Jarhead
    7.0
    Jarhead
    Stronger
    6.9
    Stronger
    Prisoners
    8.1
    Prisoners
    End of Watch
    7.6
    End of Watch
    Zodiac
    7.7
    Zodiac
    Love & Other Drugs
    6.7
    Love & Other Drugs
    Source Code
    7.5
    Source Code
    Donnie Darko
    8.0
    Donnie Darko

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jake Gyllenhaal learned of the death of his close friend Heath Ledger while he was in the middle of shooting a scene for this film. Gyllenhaal immediately walked off set, and returned to finish the scene two days later. He then took a longer bereavement leave before he was ready to continue with the rest of his scenes.
    • Goofs
      The movie gives the location of the Marine Base as "Fort Mahlus". Only the US Army begins their bases with "Fort" (i.e. Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, etc). The US Marines begin their bases with "Camp" (i.e. Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune, etc).
    • Quotes

      Sam Cahill: You know what I did to fucking get back to you?

      Grace Cahill: No.

      Sam Cahill: YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU KNOW HOW HE FUCKING SUFFERED? HE FUCKING SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FUCKING HOUSE AND MY FUCKING KIDS, GRACE? YOU ARE FUCKING MY BROTHER!

      Grace Cahill: Sam, you know I didn't.

      Sam Cahill: YOU ARE FUCKING MY BROTHER IN MY FUCKING HOUSE!

    • Connections
      Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #17.52 (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Rocky Mountain Man
      Written by David Manzanares

      Performed by David James

      Published and Recorded by David Manzanares (BMI)

    User reviews271

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    a triumph of acting over story
    Brothers is something we may have seen before - if not in its original incarnation from Denmark in 2004 then The Deer Hunter - then it is something that surprises just on the vulnerability, subtlety and ferocity of the actors in their roles. It's not about what the trailer pushes, which is an affair between a guy (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his sister in law (Natalie Portman) while the one guy's brother (Tobey Maguire) is away at war. There is one scene of that, but that's not really what the film is 'about' per-say. It's about the personal affects of war on one man, a horrific tragedy that befalls him, and how he has to live with that the rest of his life, specifically in front of his wife and children. Maguire's Sam says it simply towards the end: "Only the dead see the end of war. I have seen the end of War. How do I go on living?"

    If I may have spoiled the message of the movie- and in its own microcosm way it's as anti-war (or perhaps just anti-torture) as it could get in modern movies- it shouldn't detract from the pleasures of Brothers. This is seeing the actors- Portman, Gyllenhaal, Sam Shephard, especially Maguire- fill in these characters with enough depth and passions and fears and desires and ghosts that make them more than real to us. That's not just their achievement but director Jim Sheridan's. He lets his players breathe life into characters who, while not wooden or two-dimensional by any stretch, need that extra push as seen in David Benioff's characterizations and scenarios. Family life, its fragility and it's equal amount of love and self-torment, is what counts (again, Deer Hunter), and it's this that works in the film.

    A word though about Tobey Maguire. I'm not the only critic pointing him out, and it goes without saying he's not the only worthwhile actor in the cast (there's even performances by the girls playing Sam's kids that are extraordinary). But it's the transformation that really counts. Perhaps it's noteworthy that both brothers do transform in the film, as Tommy, the ex-con, goes from being a drunken nobody to stepping up to help his brother's barely-holding-it-together wife after the news that her husband is dead, while Sam is in the downward spiral. It's crucial too that Sheridan shows those scenes in Afghanistan that cause Sam to change so radically as he does (the way they're inter-cut in the at-home narrative is a little uneasy, one of the flaws of the film), so that we see a good person shrunk down to his deepest, darkest depths.

    When that last third comes around, it's electrifying how intense Maguire can get, even when he's just in his insinuating mode ala Jake LaMotta of accusing his brother of adultery. For anyone just looking at Maguire as Spider-Man's Peter Parker must give this a look to see his range; indeed a double feature of Brothers and Seabiscuit will show how Maguire is one of the most underrated actors under forty in Hollywood. If the role calls for it, as it does here, he goes to town, a you-can't-blame-him Oscar bait performance.
    helpful•79
    14
    • Quinoa1984
    • Dec 10, 2009

    FAQ1

    • Is 'Brothers' based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 4, 2009 (United States)
      • United States
      • Vidio (Indonesia)
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Glorieta, New Mexico, USA
    • Production companies
      • Lionsgate
      • Relativity Media
      • Sighvatsson Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 45 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.