BROTHERS (2024)

Brothers is not for everyone. It’s randomly crude, the humour is broad, and if hard pressed to come up with a one word descriptor, it would be “amusing”. Not exactly a rousing review. Still, I was amused, a lot, and I appreciated the thoughtful, authentic performances from top tier players Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin. The pair play criminal twin brothers (an obvious sight gag that it never exploited) who embark on a score to end all scores. Lies and grudges come to light amongst the mayhem and everyone (including sideliners Glenn Close, Brendan Fraser and Marisa Tomei) is whooping it up as the plot swerves in and out of the absurd. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously, and yet the daffy relationships have heart and the outlandish circumstances remain within the realm of believability (including a one-sided interspecies romance that is uncomfortably plausible). Brothers is not (fully) gross-out or slapstick or dark, but mildly all three. It’s what I’d call a dysfunctional comedy. Like family, it is what it is.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings: Is it just me or did everyone else not know that was Glenn Close before the credits rolled?