DON’T WATCH THE TRAILER
Movie Review – The Sisters Brothers
Review by Johnny De Jesus
First things first, whatever you do, do not watch the trailer for The Sisters Brothers, I’m telling you this as a friend. As it’s sometimes done with other films, the trailer paints a very different film than the one you’ll see and you may be disappointed. We don’t need anyone suing for misleading trailer again, I’m looking at you woman who sued over the trailer for Drive.
The film is about two brothers, Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix), who are hired guns for a man called The Commodore. The main plot follows them searching for a man who wronged their boss. For the most part, the story comes off as something usual for a western, but in the hands of a talented director like Jacques Audiard, we get something different. It’s not as serious and slowburn as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford but at the same time it’s also not fun-action-packed like in the recent remake of 3:10 to Yuma. There is a good balance of action, drama, and comedic moments that keeps the story fresh where you don’t know where it can go next.
Another part of the story follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s John Morris and the wanted man played by Riz Ahmed. Their characters are very different from the Sisters brothers, showing a change of thought and lifestyle in that time period as the U.S. continued to evolve with the gold rush. It was a nice comparison to see, as they still held onto some aspects of the past to try to survive to make a new future, while the Sisters brothers still held onto that Wild West way of living. Unlike a lot of westerns, the action and violence shown wasn’t fun and exciting but more real and unnerving, where we see the harshness of that time with loud gunshots and painful wounds. We also see the wide open spaces of nature which were greatly scouted and shot. Interestingly enough, a lot of the film was shot in Spain but for the most part you wouldn’t know it. The set pieces were also well made. The towns and interiors looked as if they were still lived in. Alexandre Desplat’s score kinda fell into the background of the film most of the time, I didn’t really notice it minus certain scenes.
It must come with a lot of pressure to be a foreigner to the U.S. making a western film. I know I was surprised when I heard Audiard was directing this film. I’ve been a fan of his for awhile and he always surprises, bringing something challenging to what could easily be just another genre film. For the most part, the film didn’t standout with his previous style, mainly only the spurts of intense violence which reminded me of his films Dheepan and Rust and Bone. The comedic moments took me by surprise since I was so used to his harsh dramas. Joaquin Phoenix is mainly the one adding comedy to the film as the drunk jokester of the two brothers. There are also a couple funny scenes involving John C. Reilly’s character discovering new technology of the time, such as a toothbrush and flushing toilet. What a world to live in.
The story felt like it could have easily been transported into modern times and still worked, maybe being about drug dealings instead of the gold rush. It had an interesting way of splitting the plot motivations, with the Sisters brothers having a main focus on getting someone while the other two characters’ story arc is more of self discovery and friendship, it somehow worked without having too much of a tone shift. I haven’t read the book so I’m not sure if it strayed from the source material at all, I do know that I’m still very unsure how I felt about the ending of the film. It came off as a combination of being moving and lazy, might need to rewatch. Another bit I didn’t think worked, or maybe should’ve been shot differently, was a weird dream sequence that came outta nowhere.
The film took its time with the characters, letting us get a feel for them, see them change and process the consequences of their decisions. The main characters stood out from everyone else, like they didn’t quite belong in that place and time anymore, that’s not to say that the actor’s didn’t fit to the period. This feels more like a foreign film in English and I don’t see it being a commercial success, which is sad to say since it is a good film. It might become something that ends up being taught in some film school when they study films that subvert genres or maybe some weird elective class that focuses on America Through the Eyes of a Foreigner, but I hope it does get seen by many people either way.
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: September 21, 2018
Run Time: 121 Minutes
Rated: R
Country: France/Spain/Romania/USA
Distributor: Annapurna Pictures
