Brothers (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Two criminal twin brothers, one 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.

My Take – Back in 1988, an Ivan Reitman directorial saw Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play unlikely fraternal twin brothers in the buddy comedy, aptly titled “Twins”, to hilarious results.

Though the long in development sequel, titled “Triplets”, which was supposed to add first Eddie Murphy, and then Tracy Morgan, as their long lost triplet brother, got ultimately cancelled due to Reitman‘s passing, Prime Video‘s latest release that sees Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin play mismatched twins, seems to be clearly aiming to cash in on the same idea.

But while on paper, the premise and casting looked like a comedy slam dunk, but in execution, it’s a serious case of hit and miss. Mainly as this sophomore feature from ‘Palm Springs‘ director Max Barbakow, whose debut refreshed an oft-repeated formula to excellent results, is as blandly generic as its title. Even with all the attached talent it somehow finds a way to make it less than the sum of all parts.

To make matters worse, the script from screenwriters Macon Blair (The Toxic Avenger) and Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) resembles countless dimwit rural crime capers that have come before and simply lacks the original spin or improvisation-ready skills that might have set it apart.

Sure, thanks mainly to its performances, the film succeeds in engaging more than you might expect, however, other than that nothing else comes to pass in this disappointing comedy that struggles to make you laugh.

The story follows Moke and Jady Munger, fraternal twins who have been troublemakers since childhood, blowing up the bake-sale cashbox for a few dollars. Something they learned from their mother Cath (Jennifer Landon), a lifelong felon who on a Thanksgiving 30 years ago vanished with stolen emeralds and a dying boyfriend. Now grown up, Moke (Josh Brolin) and Jady (Peter Dinklage) are two bumbling criminals with a knack for bad decisions.

Five years ago, Jady took the fall for a crime, but thanks to a deal with a crooked cop, Farfel (Brendan Fraser), he’s now getting out early. Meanwhile, Moke has found stability in a clean life, which includes a job, a pregnant wife Abby (Taylour Paige), and a house.

But just as life was looking up, Moke gets fired for not disclosing his criminal past and Jady shows up with a “one-last-heist” plan to recover their mother’s stolen emeralds. Reluctantly, Moke joins his brother on the harebrained scheme. And to further complicate matters, Cath (Glenn Close) too resurfaces, leaving the two to wonder if she genuinely wants to reconcile or if she’s just after the emeralds.

What follows is a road comedy that plays out with little comic imagination, unlike the originality of director Barbakow’s last outing. Though the story keeps moving, and reels in at a concise 89 minutes, but the writing, working with a tired premise, mostly fails to bring in the needed laughs out of it. Instead of exploiting the seemingly built-in comedy of two wildly different-sized twins, we get a sexually excited orangutan named Samuel.

The film tries to touch an emotional chord, but thanks to an uneven screenplay, no amount of drama can save it. Even the climax finds the characters in a chaotic situation that it could’ve been mined for laughs, but everything is so generic that nothing works.

Performances wise, both Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin deliver commendable work despite the limitations of the script.

Dinklage brings his usual sharp wit and charisma to the role, giving Jady an unpredictable, mischievous edge that adds some spark to the otherwise lackluster dialogue. Brolin, on the other hand, plays against type, a more grounded, reserved Moke with a subtle intensity, skillfully portraying a man torn between loyalty to his brother and the desire for a stable life.

Glenn Close continues her trend of bringing in cartoonish turns, while the very talented Taylour Paige and M. Emmet Walsh are wasted in thankless roles.

Marisa Tomei energizes the proceedings a bit with a wacky turn, and Brandon Fraser is in full over the top mode, reminiscent of his earlier roles. On the whole, ‘Brothers’ is a flat and uninspired comedy that even a pair of bickering Brolin and Dinklage can’t save.