Brothers

Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal make for convincing siblings in this tense film from director Jim Sheridan. Maguire plays Capt. Sam Cahill, a marine going on multiple tours in Afghanistan. He disappears and is presumed dead, leaving behind his wife, Grace (Natalie Portman doing some of her very best work). His brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal), an ex con, gets close to his family, complicating things when it’s discovered Sam actually survived his copter crash and is coming home. Horrible things happened to Sam while he was held captive, and Maguire gives a harrowing performance of a man who can’t live with his own actions. Gyllenhaal matches the excellence of Maguire and Portman. This is one of the year’s better ensemble acting performances. Sam Shepard is superb as the biased father.