Review: The Sisters Brothers


Set during the Gold Rush era, the title characters played by Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are henchmen doing grunt work for someone known only as The Commodore (a thoroughly wasted – and wordless – Rutger Hauer). Phoenix plays the irritable and short-fused one, with Reilly his more laidback, sensible brother who would really rather not be in the killing business anymore. Nonetheless they are currently in search of a nerdy, chatty chemist named Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) who was supposed to be delivered to the brothers by a florid bounty hunter named Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal). However, Morris has been seduced by Kermit’s promise of a guaranteed gold-finding chemical formula.



Several interesting actors are stuck in this decidedly uninteresting offbeat western from director Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet”) and his co-writer Thomas Bidegain (“A Prophet”). Based on a 2011 novel, the performances are generally fine, especially those by dependable John C. Reilly (who was apparently a fan of the novel), a flowery Jake Gyllenhaal (whose accent isn’t 100% convincing but perhaps on purpose), and an amusingly chatty Riz Ahmed. Joaquin Phoenix is solid too, I just think he seems a bit bored by it all, and so was I for great lengths. The script and pacing are not fine, and despite Ahmed and even Gyllenhaal being amusing on occasion here, the film is definitely not a comedy. The silly title and casting of both Johnny Cash (Phoenix) and Dewey Cox (Reilly) are misleading in that sense. It’s an offbeat western, and an especially slow-moving one at that. Offbeat westerns aren’t normally my thing, but this one is particularly average. It might’ve had a chance if the four main characters had met up earlier, but instead the two most interesting characters (played by Ahmed and Gyllenhaal) spend too much time on the sideline. Still, there’s moments here and there that work, and so do the performances (including a terrific cameo by veteran character actress Carol Kane in exactly the role you expect her to play by the time she turns up).



Neither good nor bad, just meh. Well-acted, but it doesn’t all add up to an especially entertaining whole. Fans of offbeat westerns may disagree, but I was a bit bored at times with this one, especially early on.



Rating: C

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