Brothers

*** Stars

I always knew Tobey Maguire could act, but I never thought he could scare the hell out of me. In Brothers, Maguire gives the best performance of his career (so far) in a brilliantly acted film that falls shy of greatness due to the wicked curse of melodrama. Not to dismiss the film, because it is certainly very worthy of praise, but I wish somehow director Jim Sheridan (In America) found a better way to balance the war sequences and home life. Maguire stars as Captain Sam Cahill, a dedicated soldier who is called up once again to serve a tour overseas. Natalie Portman (in a terrific performance) plays his wife Grace, and Jake Gyllenhaal portrays his brother Tommy. The three are a knockout together, and if only the film had followed suit, we'd be looking at one of the best movies of the year. After Sam is pronounced dead, killed in action, the family comes together to mourn him. However, they soon discover that he is alive. Now the trailer for Brothers would have you believe that this is about Sam returning home to find Tommy and Grace having an affair. Don't worry, the movie is too good for that. In fact, this bothers me because it's making you believe that this is a soap opera, when it's anything but. When Sam comes home, Maguire owns the screen. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globes. I don't see him getting nominated for an Oscar, but that sure would be one hell of a worthy nomination. He's had some good performances outside of Spider-Man in the past (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) but with Brothers, he has established himself, for me anyways, as one of the best actors of his generation.