Director: Max Barbakow
Writers: Etan Cohen, Macon Blair
Stars: Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, Taylour Paige
Synopsis: Two criminal twin brothers, one who is trying to reform, embark on a dangerous heist road trip. Facing legal troubles, gunfights, and family drama, they must reconcile their differences before their mission leads to self-destruction.
The Prime Video comedy Brothers has all the makings of an under-the-radar hit, potentially striking all the right notes. For one, it comes from director Max Barbakow, behind the brilliant COVID-19 release Palm Springs. Perhaps no film was more embraced during the pandemic than Andy Samberg’s new classic, which found a home on Hulu when we needed it most.
Next, you have two stars known for their dramatic work yet equally recognized for their charismatic and funny interviews. However, Brothers may prove that personality doesn’t always fully translate on screen. In this case, it’s a tediously familiar buddy comedy that never entirely comes together. As if taking likable leads and making them unlikable is somehow comedy gold.
The result is a charmless, practically laugh-free experience with little suspense. Nothing in Brothers feels fresh or done well enough that you can give the recycled nature of the script a pass. There is a reason why this film is just a reprocessed effort in the streaming wars aimed at producing content, not perfecting it.
Brothers follows a pair of fraternal twins, Moke (Josh Brolin) and Jady (Peter Dinklage), who have been on the wrong side of the tracks their entire childhood. One reason is that Jady is a mastermind of criminal activities, relying on his brother’s intuition and smarts, such as picking locks to grab some quick cash. It wasn’t their fault; their father was long gone, and their mother preferred her men to be criminals with no muscles and even smaller brains.
Fast-forward to adulthood, Jady finds himself leaving prison on good behavior with the help of a shady prison guard (Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser). However, Moke has turned his life around. He has bought a house and is having his first child with his girlfriend, Abby (Taylour Paige of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F). However, Moke loses his job because he never disclosed his previous criminal history, putting his family’s future in doubt.
Of course, due to the nature of movies, having Jady come back into Moke’s life comes with a well-timed opportunity. This involves a cross-country road trip to land the score of a lifetime. Then, they throw in the monkey wrench of their long-lost mother (Glenn Close), who shows up to micromanage their operation. Moke must resist killing her before grabbing the cash that will secure his family’s future.
Brothers wants to be the hybrid love child of better comedy films like Twins, Step Brothers, and even Ruthless People, but it feels more like a step-child of Masterminds. While it is fun to see Dinklage revel in the role of an arrogant and apathetic criminal, Brolin struggles to find humor in a role that requires him to be a sad sack.
All of this is forced by Macon Blair (Small Crimes), whose screenplay is as contrived as they come. It is as if the filmmakers want to put a spin on tokenism to show the juxtaposition that these leads are supposed to be twin brothers when they look nothing alike in an attempt to establish some sort of baseline comedy, which is a jaw-dropping miscalculation.
Most scenes are ludicrous, even for a comedy, and not in a good way. One of the few silver linings is a moment in which Dinklage’s Jady has an affair with a prison pen pal who has a pet orangutan that is so out of place it feels like it was lifted from a different movie. However, the characters are paper thin, not to mention the plot, as if a beloved cast playing grimy characters is worth your time or subscription.
There was a reason why a film like Brothers was not screened for critics. (For that matter, it’s mind-boggling that it was given a very limited theatrical release.) The film never had the backing to go beyond its trappings and plays it too safe. It makes you wonder why innovative storytellers like Barbakow and Blair waited so long to make a movie with so little appeal that follows the genre rule book step by step.
If they needed four years to make Brothers, by all means, let’s wait eight more for their next project.
You can stream Brothers exclusively on Prime Video on October 17th.
