Who woulda thunk it?

You know, 2024 might not be that terrible for movies. It’s the one time I can ask  the question “have you seen the new Brendan Fraser, Peter Dinklage flick?” I can’t say enough how happy I am that Brendan Fraser has finally returned to acting. There’s so much to love about the old guy, especially how he looks like he just got done crying before the take, and is still slightly weeping while delivering his lines regardless of his actual character emotion.

Brothers was directed by Max Babakow, a name you might recognize if you’re a dork who watches romcoms and saw 2020’s Palm Springs about a couple stuck in a time loop. Actually that sounds pretty cool, let me add that to the list. The movie was written by Macon Blair who you’ll recognize as director/writer from 2017’s I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, I gotta feel bad for the dude.

Blair also directed and wrote 2023’s The Toxic Avenger also starring Dinklage, and you’re probably thinking “but Connor, that movie didn’t come out in 2023.” And you’d be right. The Toxic Avenger screened at Fantastic Fest in 2023, and despite overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences the folks at distributor Legendary Pictures are presently refusing a wide release. And yes, Lloyd Kaufman is pissed off and can’t do anything about it. But let’s talk about Brothers.

Brothers is a film about a crime family. Josh Brolin plays Moke Munger alongside Peter Dinklage as his brother Jady Munger. They come from a family that breeds nothing but felons, and their mother went on the lamb 30 years ago creating some abandonment issues in both of them. The brothers went in separate paths after a crime scheme went south landing Jady in prison for five years while Moke settled down with his family and became a normal everyman working at a fast food place. But Moke gets fired when a “random” screening reveals that he lied during his interview, just around the time Jady gets out of prison with a scheme for just one more big heist. There’s always one more.

There’s also a big to do with the two men’s relationship with their mother Cath played by Glenn Close. Jady meanwhile is being dogged by corrupt prison guard Farful who is the son of the judge and also secured Jady’s release under a hostage deal that would see Jady paying him off. Farful is played by Brendan Fraser and his dad the Judge is played by M. Emmett Walsh. Sadly this is Mr. Walsh’s final release as he passed away in March. Marisa Tomei is here as well.

Taylour Paige plays Abby, Munger’s wife whose job it is to remind him that he has a family and obligations to them now. In a world full of insane people, Abby is one of the sane ones. She sets the stage for the “be back by Thanksgiving dinner or we’re going to have marital problems” ticking clock.

I enjoyed Brothers but I can’t shake the feeling that it was trying too hard to get my affection. Like the uncle at Thanksgiving dinner who really really wants to become the cool uncle but doesn’t really know what the kids are interested in these days so he just calls the turkey “skibidi rizz”. Which is not me declaring Macon Blair as out of touch, but just noting that the film goes way overboard in a lot of spots leading to scenes that feel really out of place.

Like in one instance the crew is in a golf course digging up a body that may or may not be holding the key to their success. The whole thing turns into a mid-speed golf chase (noted by the characters how slow the golf carts drive) with irate golfers lobbing balls and hitting them in the head for comedic effect, which itself leads to a guy operating a woodchipper that looks suspiciously like Jake Paul getting run over by a golf cart as a very obvious mannequin right out of a MadTV sketch. Brolin throws one of those steel coffee mugs with a “destroy the patriarchy, not the planet” sticker covering it and at one point gets molested by a big gorilla that walks into the scene out of nowhere.

I enjoyed a lot of these stupid moments, but I have a feeling a big portion of the audience won’t and the fact that this is an increasingly rare film where the critics (46%) and the public (49%) agree on RT is proof that this is going to be a divisive film. I also appreciated the strong sense of progression with characters changing both in personality and physically as the plot progresses. Especially Peter Dinklage and Brendan Fraser who repeatedly get the shit kicked out of them and their injuries just get worse over time.

Come for Peter Dinklage’s jaw-dropping mustache, stay for Brendan Fraser’s sad baby eyes. It’s hard to disagree that this film has a real star-studded cast that carry what might otherwise be a very generic plot about the crime family who find themselves on a road trip for one last heist, who screw each other over but really deep down there’s a lot of family love. There’s also a lot of forced sentimentality. It’s nice to see everyone trying new roles, except for Glenn Close who is no stranger to playing white trash mom.

Brothers is a C+ cheeseburger with expensive, fancy condiments on top to razz it up.

Rating: B