Combining footage from the home front and the front lines, Brothers at War is the first comprehensive examination of life in Iraq through the eyes of a soldier and his loved ones.
Comment
08/30/09
Brothers at War (2009)
63
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:12
Rotten:7
Average Rating:5.6/10
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Filmmaker Jake Rademacher gets rare access to American and Iraqi troops in this gripping documentary. For BROTHERS AT WAR, Rademacher chronicles the experiences of his two soldier siblings as they... [More]
Starring: Jake Rademacher, Isaac Rademacher, Joseph Rademacher
Director: Jake Rademacher
Reviews for Brothers at War
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Rademacher's vigorous commitment to making the documentary, as well as to his large, close-knit family, deserves respect.
05/15/09
Top CriticBrothers at War would be interesting enough if it merely observed soldiers in their element as they chill behind friendly lines, but this documentary, which begins at a low key, gradually becomes intense and psychologically complicated.
05/08/09
Insights shared by those left behind sharpen the focus on the sacrifices made by those who go off to war -- a message that might have been clearer were the film not so self-serving.
05/08/09
Top CriticThe thoughtful work walks a few paces in soldiers' boots.
05/07/09
The movie is remarkable for its level of access, yet never questions the basic justness of the cause; for all its value, Brothers at War seems too crypto-jingoistic for comfort.
05/06/09
Just because Rademacher believes his film to be "non-partisan" does not make it so.
05/05/09
The epitome of an embedded war report.
03/27/09
Provides some interesting perspectives but also veers dangerously close to vanity project.
03/23/09
Top CriticThere were a couple more [moments] that I thought were revealing enough and I loved the intent.
03/16/09
I still think it’s worth renting because the film does a good job of taking audiences deeper than the media or newscasters on TV ever could, personalizing and humanizing war and its impact on the American family.
03/16/09
It is striking that Brothers at War approaches this profound and complicated relationship between brothers by way of trauma and death.
03/15/09
A drama about sibling rivalry and reconciliation that just happens to be filmed under extremely dangerous circumstances.
03/13/09
As myopic as any piece of "left-wing propaganda" about the failure of the war, missing both the big picture and the human one due to its filmmaker's refusal to ask the dark questions.
03/13/09
Rademacher comes up with compellingly unfamiliar documentary footage. ... Firefights caught unvarnished and in the moment are harrowing because the cameraman himself is, well, harrowed.
03/12/09
Rademacher’s strange vanity project ends up saying a lot more about his family issues and need to be seen as a swaggering badass than it does about the day-to-day life of soldiers in Iraq.
03/12/09
"Brothers at War" is designed (and limited) as a corrective to what its maker sees as the anti-war harangues preceding it. Director and Decatur, Ill., native Jake Rademacher has a strong personal story to relay. You wish the film, executive-produced by Ga
03/12/09
Rademacher's limited mission and gee-whiz perspective make his agenda seem too personal and lacking in context.
03/12/09
Brothers at War is an honest, on-the-ground documentary about the lives of Americans fighting there.
03/12/09
Top Critic1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for Brothers at War
February 10, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
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