The first trailer for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire has been unveiled and, true to it’s Oscar-season release date, exhibits a emotionally powerful film set to draw the attention of the Academy.
In the film, Gyllenhaal plays the black sheep of a snowy Pennsylvania-based family whose bad behavior has left him in jail for three years while Maguire plays the military man older brother done good with Portman as his wife and the mother of their two daughters. When Maguire’s character’s tour of duty in Afghanistan goes awry and he is presumed killed in action, Gyllenhaal’s character – who has just been released from prison – starts to encroach, seemingly to finally give back and support the family. Things are thrown into chaos, however, when Maguire unexpectedly returns.
We previously noted the strong Oscar pedigree of director Sheridan who is a six-time nominee; twice for Best Director, once for Best Picture and three times for Best Adapted or Original Screenplay; which will bode well for this project despite being scribed by David Benioff, recently of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” infamy.
Further, the film is a remake of the excellent, award-winning 2004 Danish film by Susanna Bier, was previously set for an August release before being shifted to Oscar-season – evidence of studio confidence – and had reportedly tested strongly for its originally planned December 2008 release before post-production presumably delayed the release. All signs point to good things.
“Brothers” is due out December 4th and is also set to feature music written by U2 especially for it. The trailer features U2’s “Bad” from the Unforgettable Fire in the second half and some terrible modern-rock fromage-rock song in the first half. Lighthouse? Close and equally bad, it’s The Fray, “Never Say Never (Don’t Let Me Go).” Everyone comes to us for these kinds of answers and we get that, but you can’t pay us to listen to that kind of music. “Brothers” is due in theaters on December 4.