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Brothers McMullen, The
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Brothers McMullen, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 73 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.3 out of 10
based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for language and some sexuality

Starring Jack Mulcahy, Mike McGlone, Edward Burns, Connie Britton, and Maxine Bahns

An portrait of the lives and loves of three Irish-Catholic brothers living on Long Island.


GENRE(S): Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: Edward Burns  
DIRECTED BY: Edward Burns  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 3, 2000 
Video: February 3, 1998 
Theatrical: August 18, 1995 
RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Burns also took home an award for Best First Feature at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Burns has created an endearing gathering of people we all know, and every one of them is so much fun that leaving the theater at the end elicits a touch of regret.
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90
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
While other films struggle for their effects, Brothers simply lives and breathes, thoroughly likable from beginning to end.
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90
Washington Post Desson Thomson
One of the most enjoyable experiences of the year.
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90
Variety Todd McCarthy
Good old-fashioned virtues of three-dimensional characters, fine dialogue, recognizable life situations and meat-and-potatoes content.
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90
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
This modest, enormously likable film, about love and temptation and ties that bind, is about brotherhood most of all. [9 August 1995, p.C9]
89
Austin Chronicle Alison Macor
It is a rare treat of a film.
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88
ReelViews James Berardinelli
You don't have to be Catholic, or Irish, or even American, to "get it." Burns' language, despite originating on Long Island, is universal in appeal and meaning.
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80
Film.com Ed Brubaker
It's old-fashioned filmmaking, and more people should do it.
80
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The women's characters are as well drawn as the men's in a splendidly acted film that captures the confusion of love in ways that are ardent, affecting and wonderfully funny.
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80
Film.com Tom Keogh
A smart marriage of modest technical ambition, sophisticated material, and a hang-loose presentation that belies the production's no-frills sacrifices.
75
USA Today Mike Clark
This meaty Irish stew isn't arty or elliptical. It ought to connect with anyone who's survived sibling tension or romantic fence-sitting. [9 August 1995, Life, p.5D]
75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie brings into focus how rare religion and spirituality are in American films.
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75
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
A clever, amiably low-key mix of family drama and romantic comedy.[18 August 1995, Friday, p.C]
70
Film.com John Hartl
It's not a profound film, but it is heartfelt, and Burns has done his best to keep it clear and emotionally direct.
70
Washington Post Rita Kempley
This knowing, low-budget comedy will appeal to men, who'll recognize their behavior, but also to women, who'll see it as goosing the gander.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The romantic troubles of three Irish-Catholic brothers on Long Island don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
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63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Respectable by the tube's standards, even a cut above dumbed-down Hollywood, but hardly the stuff of creative renewal.
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60
TV Guide Staff (not credited)
Solid, old-fashioned narrative moviemaking with just enough no-budget cachet to disguise its essential blandness.
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60
Mr. Showbiz Anne Harris
This is, recognizably, an indie film, in the best sense of the term.
10
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
If you want to waste a couple of hours, you can surely do much better looking elsewhere.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Seamus M. gave it an8:
Burns captures the moral conflict felt by Irish-American males in this delightful treat of a movie. I wonder if this movie were about 3 Jewish brothers, would Lisa Shwarzbaum and the other 'baum', John Rosenbaum feel a little differently?

Kevin V. gave it a10:
Wonderful and realistic...this is what indie is meant to be!

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