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THE SISTERS BROTHERS
Starring: John C Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Runtime: 121mins
Rated R
Annapurna Pictures

Jacques Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers opens up with its many company credits appearing from the bottom of the screen and appearing upwards. It’s an off-kilter way to read them but absolutely fitting when what follows is a distinctly off-kilter western. Set in 1851 during the US gold rush, Audiard’s film has all the pieces of a traditional western–the horses, the saloons, the canned beans– but through its four strong leads is able to explore so much more.

Ostensibly The Sisters Brothers is about Eli (Reilly) and Charlie (Phoenix) Sisters, a pair of assassins in the old west who are on a hit job on behalf of their wealthy client, the Commodore (a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Rutger Hauer). The Commodore is after a gold seeker, Hermann Warm (Ahmed), whose chemical formula reveals gold just by pouring it into the water. A game changer for treasure hunters. Jake Gyllenhaal’s John Morris has been tailing Warm as he makes his way to San Francisco and leaving breadcrumbs for the Sisters to follow. Trouble is Hermann and Morris turn out to be oddly kindred spirits and Morris’s designs on Warm’s death start to wane. While Morris wrestles with his duties to the Sisters and Warm’s idealism, the Sisters cope with their own infighting. Eli is grasping at a world where they are free of needing to take on this dirty work to survive while Charlie can see no other purpose for himself than drinking and killing. The setup is relatively simple but in campfire chats and detours, mines a deep well of complex themes at play in this unforgiving environment. There’s an air of tragedy around all the leads that undercuts the masculine bravado that so often drives gunslingers in westerns.

If there are John C Reilly-philes out there–and really, why wouldn’t there be?–these next couple months will be providing them with a wealth of his screen time. Obviously there’s the big Disney sequel with Ralph Breaks the Internet, the more familiar comedy pairing with Will Ferrell in Holmes and Watson and soon after that the UK will see him in the biopic Stan & Ollie. But I will go out on a limb and say that his work here for Jacques Audiard’s contains his most interesting performance of the bunch. As the older brother Eli, he is the more physically imposing presence of the two but continually reveals more and more layers of sensitivity as the film goes on. He has a token of a past romance in the form of a shawl he treats with reverence, he’s open to trying these newfangled tooth brushes that are going around. Most of all he carries the weight of having to take care of his damaged younger brother who would likely drink himself into oblivion without Eli nearby—not least of all because of their shared troubled childhood. It’s by far the quietest performance of the quartet but it’s extremely touching. The long and winding road that this small family unit takes is at every point unpredictable and where Audiard ultimately goes was unexpectedly affecting. A beautiful and unique entry into the genre.

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“The Decline of Western Civilization Collection”
4 Disc Blu-Ray and DVD
Rated: Unrated
Studio: Shout! Factory

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

The highly-celebrated and long-awaited trilogy known as “The Decline of Western Civilization” is now for the first time available as a one complete collection. Available on both Blu-Ray and DVD the great people at Shout! Factory has compiled all three films from the series along with a 4th disc containing tons of bonus footage and interviews. And if that wasn’t enough accompanying the 4 disc collection is a 40 page booklet containing rare stills and an essay by rock historian Domenic Prioret.

Having grown up renting these films from the local video store I was instantly drawn back to the films when I heard they would be being released as a complete collection. Each of the films was just as I remembered. From the classic interviews with Black Flag which shows of their meager rehearsal/living quarters to Germs front man Darby Crash making breakfast and X’s mid tattoo trance like ramblings part 1 of the series had me again clamoring for more. Part 2 transports you back to the late 80’s L.A. metal scene, a scene that will go down in infamy as younger bands like Poison and Motley Crue mixed with long time rock staples like Kiss, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith. It’s all here just as I remembered from Ozzy Osbourne spilling his drink to W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes pouring Vodka on his head while barely floating in a swimming pool. Part 3 of the series was never released for home viewing however knowing the film existed I had seen bits and pieces over the years so to have the film available now was a personal highlight. The third film showcases performances by Final Conflict, Naked Aggression and The Resistance while shining a light on important topics such as youth homelessness, alienation and alcoholism.

Fans of both music and gritty documentaries will certainly want to check out this release. If not for the sheer nostalgia of past musical era’s but also for the importance that these films played to an internet-less generation who without these films maybe not have ever known that there were youth out there with similar trials, tribulations and ideas/goals. Though each of the films feature new 2k high-definition scans of the originals that though look sharp and crisp still retain the appeal of the originals. The only negative I found with the release was that often times the sound was quite unbalanced leaving interviews to be quite low while performances were quite loud. Even though this caused me to put some wear and tear on my remote/TV I enjoyed every minute of the 4 discs.

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Tag: western

Film Review: The Sisters Brothers

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