World Movies

I was not looking forward to this film (another anti-military anti-war film) but this is none of that! It is a wonderful story of people and their relationships and emotions. The story is beautifully told and the cast is uniformly wonderful although it seemed at first the brothers might better have switched parts but as the plot unfolds the casting is perfect. The plot: In a family of a retired Marine Sgt (Sam Shepard) there are two sons (Toby Maguire) an active duty Captain and a Ex con wastrel (Jake Guillenhaal) who gets out of prison as his brother is about to return to the war in Afghanistan. When his brother is lost in Afghanistan the brother slowing steps up to support the wife and two girls. When Maguire Is found alive months later the dynamic of the family is greatly changed as the whole family works out the complications of their lives. This is one of the best pictures of the year, dramatic, involving, with good dialog and scene; and the actors and director play them to the hilt.