Movie Review - The Sisters Brothers

The Sisters Brothers ** or **** (out of 5; double rating explained below) (R) This is billed as a comedy western, though it’s far less of the former. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix star as sibling hired guns for a rich mean guy in 1851 Oregon. Their job is to kill an alleged thief for The Commodore after his scout (Jake Gyllenhaal) locates the fellow. That puts the brothers on the trail from Oregon to California gold country for a very long time - for them and the audience.

The director is France’s Jacques Audiard, who also shares writing credits with two others. The result is more of a product for European drama afficionados than for fans of good ol’ traditional Amurrican Westerns. That means a lot more dialog, character development, psychological conflicts and reflections than gunplay or other action. The body count is adequate for its R rating, but less explicit than usual for oaters from the last few decades.

If you’re in a contemplative (Chardonnay) mood for this offering, you’ll be moved by fine performances and pleased by superb scenery and gritty interior locations. You’ll enjoy the unfolding of nuanced characters, worthy of the higher rating option. If you’re more of a guns ‘n guts (domestic beer) guy, hoping for a Wild Bunch scion, you’ll be restless for much of its two hours, and likely grumbling about how much chin-wagging they do between shots and punches, and how much of the latter occurs out of focus or off-camera. (10/5/18)