In America director Jim Sheridan helms this drama based on Susanne Biers’s Danish film. Here, Tobey Maguire stars as Sam Cahill, a Marine who is missing and presumed dead in Afghanistan. His brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is an ex-con who has succeeded at little in his life, but he finally finds his place with his brother’s wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and her two daughters. The relationship evolves into more than just familial friendship, but soon Sam returns after being rescued from the Taliban, upsetting the new family dynamic. Brothers also stars Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham, and Clifton Collins Jr..

Screenwriter David Benioff (The 25th Hour) didn’t have to do much to relocate Brothers from Denmark to America. The story remains the same: Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) loves his family, but he’s equally devoted to his career. Just as his ne’er-do-well brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), exits prison, where he did time for robbery, the Marines deploy Sam to Afghanistan. Tommy starts looking in on his wary sister-in-law, Grace (Natalie Portman), but then Sam’s helicopter crashes in the mountains, and the military informs Grace that her husband has died. Unbeknownst to the Cahill clan, the Taliban has taken Sam hostage and tortures him to elicit information. Sam resists, but his colleague caves, leading to an unthinkable act. Back in New Mexico, Grace and Tommy grow closer, stopping just short of a full-blown affair (in Susanne Bier’s original, they take the plunge). Even Tommy’s disapproving Vietnam vet father, Hank (Sam Shepard), sees his son in a new light after Tommy renovates Grace’s kitchen. But when Sam is rescued by his company, he returns a broken man and is convinced that his wife has fallen in love with his brother. Even his daughters are afraid of him (Bailee Madison impresses as the eldest). As in Bier’s film, Jim Sheridan (In America) elevates redemption and forgiveness over tragedy and loss, and his well-meaning remake gets off to a solid start, but it loses steam by the end. Brothers offers a compelling scenario, but the telling is too overstated to capture the full heartbreak of the situation. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Brothers (Click for larger image)