The performances are impressive, especially Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jannik and the very sympathetic Nielsen, who relishes the chance to show she's more than just a pretty face.
Comment
05/10/05
Brothers (2005)
89
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:70
Fresh:62
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: This tense, understated drama explores the complications of individual and social ethics stemming from the repercussions of war on one man and his family.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Connie Nielsen, who has played pivotal roles in such English-language films as GLADIATOR, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, and RUSHMORE, is the powerful and emotional heart of BROTHERS, a moving Danish film... [More]
Starring: Connie Nielsen, Ulrich Thomsen, Nicolaj Lie Kass, Lene Maria Christensen
Director: Susanne Bier
Reviews for Brothers
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/16/06
Top CriticAs for [Connie] Nielsen, she proves that Hollywood has yet to give her a role that's worthy of her talents and gives a strong performance that is effectively the centre of the film.
05/07/05
Click to read the article
10/17/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/09/06
Top CriticThe characters are recognizably, painfully human -- you know, just like you.
05/13/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/16/06
Top CriticThough Brothers is at times unexpectedly harrowing, it is neither a preachy anti-war diatribe nor a triangulated domestic drama, but it does show how even little wars can disrupt the most harmonious families.
06/01/05
This Danish drama of guilt, displacement and brotherly love is all the better for its understatement.
05/06/05
As warm as her approach is to these people..., Bier never descends into cheap sentiment or soap opera simplicities.
05/18/05
This impressively original film plays with cliches, especially ones about how people act, and act out, in crises. Then it explodes those conventions with devastating consequences.
06/03/05
Director Susanne Bier manages to rise above mere melodrama to realistic human emotions. The performances are so powerful you can't ignore the plight of these people.
05/27/05
Bier's attention to detail allows her to get away with melodramatic plot developments we might not buy in another movie. Yeah, crazy things happen, but the characters' responses to them are so genuine that the plot developments feel genuine, too.
05/19/05
While its focus is domestic drama, the film doesn't shy away from harsh scenes of wartime violence.
05/05/05
At its core, Susanne Bier's wrenching portrayal of the shifting dynamics within a Danish family is really about survival, about how we cope in the face of shattering grief and what we'll do -- anything, really -- to save ourselves.
06/10/05
Bier lets the viewer feel every ounce of the emotional pain.
05/10/05
...intriguing...
07/16/05
This story might have been a standard melodrama in less gifted hands, but Bier uses a leisurely pace and subtly stylized camera work to make it an intelligent, deeply moving exploration of social and individual ethics.
05/05/05
A haunting anti-war film.
06/18/05
Feels like an amalgam of newsreel and stage drama, but with the most potent aspects of both art forms.
06/03/05
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