The Sisters Brothers is like a French barbecue: it tries to be authentic but gets lost in all the style.
Classic Westerns are classic because they are simple stories based on basic archetypes: good, evil, love, hate, greed, revenge... They are, essentially, retellings of Greek myths in cowboy days. And it's still possible to tap into this story-driven ethos as illustrated by films like Young Guns, Hell or High Water, or my personal favourite, Bone Tomahawk.
But there's another school of filmmaking bent on making sweeping, character-driven epics that typically end up as little more than rambling tales of which one can make neither head nor tails. Which is fine for the character but bad for the horse he's driving, because the horse usually winds up lost.
The Sisters Brothers is a beautiful film (with special mention to the wonderful score by Alexandre Desplat (The Tree of Life, The Shape of Water, Isle of Dogs...)) containing wonderful vistas and better than average performances, but the story line that insists on running out for two full hours stretches itself thin.
Slathering barbecue sauce on duck à l'orange doesn't make it Tex-Mex.
Another Western? Noooooooo, it isn't. Like most good movies with a Western backdrop the key to the film is a good story. That's one of the reasons that I've often thought Westerns are an excellent genre - the writer is not encumbered by needing to explain job, marriage, kids, etc. We can just get right to story. Fun fact - The story in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was borrowed from a ninja movie. A good story is a good story regardless of genre.
First and foremost, the acting is tremendous. Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal offer up stellar performances but the real heart of this movie comes from John C. Reilly and Riz Ahmed (who was excellent in The Night Of). From beginning to end this just has a very unique feel to it that I couldn't put my hand on. The final five minutes made me realize what that feeling was (I won't say here). The message of the film wasn't about the old west or anything like that. To borrow from the Grinch: it was something much more.
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Waste of good actors for a french western.
I’m not much of a western person, but the cast of this movie caught my interest. I saw a trailer a while back and it seemed to have a Coen Brothers vibe, I suppose that can still be said about the film. Forgive me but I am not familiar with the works of Jacques Audiard but this movie is quite a journey. Again not being a western person I’m not familiar enough to say if it is a common trope for the story to seem meandering. I know that sounds bad but I don’t mean it that way, it kept my attention throughout and the performances are really great, especially John C Reilly. I love the way the movie handles the action and violence because it isn’t really used for suspense or exploited. It is more of a slight hinderance that the Sisters Brothers have to deal with, as sometimes people try to kill them but they are the Sisters Brothers and they will prevail. The story goes in places I didn’t expect and sometimes I wasn’t fully sure what I should be taking away from that. But at the end of the day, it isn’t about some great big showdown, it’s about a place you can call home and lay your hat
For starters, this isn’t a western. The dialogue isn’t even close to a western, especially one set in 1851. Of course, maybe that’s the point.
I like Phoenix and Riley, but they aren’t western actors, not by a long shot. I could only handle 30 minutes of this before turning it off.
I should have k ow better than to pick a western from Netflix’s “critically acclaimed” list.
I didn’t rate it and I will probably watch the the rest of it one day. 1883, 1923, and Tombstone are westerns. This isn’t.
A plodding and overlong tale of violence and redemption that doesn't seem to know quite what it's trying to say
The English language debut of French director Jacques Audiard, who adapted the script with his regular writing partner Thomas Bidegain from Patrick deWitt's 2011 novel of the same name, the film posits that even those who seem irredeemable may one day find a path to redemption. Very much of a piece with Audiard's more celebrated humanist work such as De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté (2005), Un prophète (2009), and Dheepan (2015), The Sisters Brothers works primarily as a character study about people trying to do what they feel is right in a world arrayed against them. Unfortunately, it did next-to-nothing for me. I wouldn't say it's a bad movie, as it clearly has a lot going for it; not the least of which is an unapologetic foregrounding of character over plot. However, its episodic rhythm, bifurcated narrative structure, and poorly-defined morality left me unengaged, frustrated, and rather bored.
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Good for the direction and the actors, about the script diversity of opinions, for 1, good, for 2, rare
I simply loved this movie.
Nothing incredible, but 'The Sisters Brothers' is a very fine film.
Despite a few moments of major action, this actually makes for pretty chilled viewing as we follow the journey of Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) across the West Coast of the United States during 1851. They're attempting to track down John (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Hermann (Riz Ahmed) - for differing objectives.
I think the reason why this is an enjoyable ride is down to the aforementioned cast. Reilly, Phoenix, Gyllenhaal and Ahmed are very good, I approve all of their performances here. They definitely raise everything else up.
There are some impressive scenes from the midway point, which is where the film really does get going; it's solid beforehand, though all of the good stuff comes late on.
I think I expected much more from this, but it's still a film that leaves a positive impression on me.
This film is incredibly underrated, I watched it with my Dad who honestly doesn't like many modern westerns (I, for the most part, love the modern stuff over the old stuff) but we were both pleasantly surprised as the film has enough to satisfy most audiences and every single actor brings their all to their roles. I recommend it big time for people who want to see a modern-day western and also an old school western, but with a lot of heart behind it.
The Sisters Brothers is another modern western that attempts to show a different west from the traditionally accepted, which it mainly succeeds all the while somehow staying close to what the viewer expects.
There’s more to cold-blooded killers than cold-blooded killing but they still are very good at their job and never get bested. Gold and the discovery of it is a driving factor in the hunt and the impending downfall of their quarry – but Riz Ahmed is not your usual grizzled prospector, Jake Gyllenhaal is a bounty hunter too – but he finds people and waits for the real killers to arrive.
It all seems to be laid out in front of, you know the characters and even the storyline, but then it is not too. This is definitely the film’s strength and I can also see that it could be a weakness for some. Director Audiard shoot entirely in Europe and brought a sense of a European continental film to the story and the way it progressed. The action certainly has that grimy, gritty sense of the more modern westerns, scruffy, unclean, ragged around the edges, death is quick and cheap. Yet in amongst this the main characters are striving for a redemption of any sort that they might get. There is no black and white (hats) the whole canvas is a muddy grey and no one comes out clean.
Amhed’s reason for being pursued and escaping his pursers and capture is so incidental to the plot in real terms it might as well have ‘MacGuffin’ printed on it in foot-high letters. Audiard is more interested in his characters and how the ‘Wild West’ has shaped them, making seemingly tough, hardened, greedy and all the other characteristics we are used to seeing but giving them a real human side that motivates their actions and allows them to display other sides to the individuals rather than ‘killer’, ‘pyscho’, ‘greedy’, ‘untrustworthy’ and so on.
To do this the there is a lot of dialogue and a lot of simple pursuit, what violence and hardships that are suffered seem even more pertinent to the story as life can be snuffed out easily for what sometimes is a random, undeserving, moment. So far so bleak.As the characters traverse through the very western looking scenery the film can seem to be slow-paced and meandering but this is a strong point in the story and fits the overall narrative and what the director/writer wants to tell you. Shooting, galloping, yelping and screaming gunslingers would not be true to the story.
With great scenery and score the eyes and ears are as well treated as the old grey matter with The Sisters Brothers add into this mix John C Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed on your starting roster and you have strong film. Female characters are not so strongly treated by Rebecca Root gets a greatly expanded cameo and as a ‘bad as the men’ character and Carol Kane turns up near the end which is always a nice treat for film lovers.The Sisters Brothers is nice little western born of the same family as The Unforgiven and zigzagging across the genre right back to Shane.
There is redemption, death and life in the hard world of the west, but something that’s missing from a lot of those films is a European sensibility and an underlying sense of humour. This The Sisters Brothers has for me.All in all The Sisters Brothers is good at what it does but be warned if you are expecting a more rock ‘em and sock ‘em western about bounty hunters shootin’ up the town then maybe do not set this aside to watch. I still think some viewers looking for that type of film might get enough from what they see but I can also see why some will not like the story as much as me.
An offbeat, and darkly comic western that is rich in detail, and markedly different from others of its kind. It meanders a little at times, and so that brings the score down a notch, but still worth a watch for fans of the genre and admirers of the actors.
Well that was a good picture with some decent cowboys and some good shoot out action but the horse did drag a little.
I watched the movie yesterday, in a surprise premiere, where they show movies that arent released yet, way before he release, but they dont tell you what movie you will watch Right up front: The movie wasnt really my taste and it has its weaknesses. But it's not bad either. I would put it in the lower half. The first half of the movie seems to be not knowing in which directions the movie wants to go, which makes the first half not really necessary. The second half on the other hand was a little better, with some characters confronting each other. That's the climax of the movie, that I really liked. But unfortunately thats just 5% of the movie. The rest is rather forgetable.
What isnt forgetable is the cast. With John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed and Joaquin Phoenix, its not a cast to oversee. The world is interesting, as its from 1851, where things are quite rare, that today are part of our everyday life.
It's a slow-paced movie, that gets quite boring from time to time, but shows some really good character development at the peek of the movie. Overall it couldnt really convince me.
Rating: 4/10
Excellent. I'm a sucker for following misfits round the West, along with all the mischief they get into. Audiard is as good at his craft as Phoenix is at his. Beautifully shot and wonderfully written Western. Brutal, touching, plus it's very funny in places.
Very few flaws in this film.
8.3/10
Not exactly the comedy I was sold in the trailers... While there are some darkly funny moments and some great work from solid character actors, I found myself mind wandering as it started to drag in the middle. It's a solemn western, that doesn't really do much to glorify those old days.
Never been crazy about westerns but this one is interesting. Cool story with a great cast enjoyed it for the most part.
Not quite the western I was expecting, it was a lot more funny. Things just seemed different and I liked that. The whole cast is great but Joaquin Phoenix really stands out as the best performance. The story does kinda drag at times and this could of been shorter. Still John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as brothers named Sisters is a fun time.
Great movie! Great performances, all around! I couldn't tell where the story was going at all and I loved every minute of it.
Shout by Ninja PoonBlockedParent2019-01-28T00:39:37Z
Far better than expected... The comedy takes a back seat to great acting... My ol'lady killed me, after John C Reilly got bit and swole up, she said look! It's Amy Schumer bahahaha