Brothers

Strong performances keep this sentimental story just the right side of melodrama.

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Don't be dissuaded from watching Brothers because the director's previous opus was the 50 Cent flick Get Rich Or Die Tryin. Jim Sheridan has pulled himself up here and created a moving piece of work. True, there's a good deal of deliberate tugging at the heart-strings, but strong performances from the main protagonists skirt just the right side of melodrama.

The story is a remake of the 2004 film, Brødre, written and helmed by the Danish director Susanne Bier. This version is set in 2007, with Tobey Maguire as Sam Cahill, a marine based in your typical American military town. He is married to Grace (Natalie Portman), who disapproves of his newly parolled brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal). Nearby live the boys' parents, Hank and Elsie (a gruff Sam Sheppard and Mare Winningham).

So off Captain Sam goes to Afghanistan. It's not spoiling much to reveal that things go wrong for his tour early on in the film, because the film's core is about what unfolds next - both for him and his dysfunctional family. Brace yourself for brutality on both fronts, although the relentless misery is uplifted at times by playing children and a troop of comedy builders brought into rebuild Grace's kitchen. Truly commendable are not only the performances from the three main characters, but the two young girls who play Tom and Grace's daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). Look out for the agonising birthday scene in which Isabelle tearfully manipulates a single balloon, a metaphor for each family member's frustrations.