The Sisters Brothers

Name: The Sisters Brothers
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Crime, Western
Released: September 21, 2018
Duration: 121 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Allison Tolman, Carol Kane, Creed Bratton, Duncan Lacroix, Jake Gyllenhaal

2018

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Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 125 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 125 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Annapurna Pictures | Release Date: September 21, 2018 | R

Starring: Allison Tolman, Carol Kane, Creed Bratton, Duncan Lacroix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, John C. Reilly, Niels Arestrup, Patrice Cossoneau, Rebecca Root, Riz Ahmed, Rutger Hauer, Zac Abbott

Movie Facts:

This is the first English-language film for director Jacques Audiard.

Summary: Based on Patrick Dewitt's acclaimed novel of the same name, The Sisters Brothers follows two brothers - Eli and Charlie Sisters - who are hired to kill a prospector who has stolen from their boss. The story, a genre-hybrid with comedic elements, takes place in Oregon in 1851.

Director: Jacques Audiard

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Crime, Western

Rating: R

Runtime: 121 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Karen Gordon

Oct 3, 2018

In the end the joy of the movie is in watching these four very different characters interact. Read full review

Soren Andersen

Oct 4, 2018

Adapting a prizewinning novel by Canadian writer Patrick deWitt, Audiard has made an atmospheric Western in which the four lead actors portray their characters with remarkable subtlety. Read full review

Empire Nick de Semlyen

Apr 1, 2019

An eccentric, funny yarn filled with eccentric, funny characters, Audiard’s oater deftly twists Western tropes, sending its charming, ramshackle heroes scurrying from one bizarre incident to the next. Read full review

Kimberley Jones

Sep 26, 2018

Reilly, Phoenix, Gyllenhaal, and Ahmed – a murderers’ row of outstanding character actors who all moonlight as leading men – take the script’s raw materials (daddy issues, the trauma of being bullied, the civilizing effect of a toothbrush) and forge new bonds with a few words, a light look. The film treats their growing intimacy, in all its permutations, like an objet d’art, to be turned over and examined, delicately, from every angle. When they’re together, the film is electric. Read full review

Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

Sep 26, 2018

There’s a strangeness to certain passages of Sisters that bolsters it through its seedy saloons and cacophonous firefights, and it constitutes the best the film has to offer. Read full review

Barry Hertz

Sep 12, 2018

It's a my-brother's-keeper drama, except when it's a violent comedy. It's a tale of There Will Be Blood-levels of greed, except when it's a high-ho adventure. Read full review

Rex Reed

Sep 20, 2018

Mostly it’s a misguided mess. Read full review

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User Reviews

upsetrapid

Sep 30, 2018

The cinematogrophy and direction for this film was superb. The camera paused just at the correct times to give the audience a moment to absorb the emotions of the character. John C. Riley was brilliant and should be nominated for an oscar for this role.

5 of 7 users found this helpful52

hnestlyonthesly

Oct 12, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. he Sisters Brothers accomplishes almost everything it sets out to do: a it’s a fresh adaptation set in the Old West without any of the restrictions of its genre’s tropes. The fecundity of violence, its hydra-headed nature is on full display, and the film balances dark humor and distances violence through a lens of objectivity. Everything below is for your perusal after you’ve experienced the movie.

murdering the father and murdering Mayfield and not murdering the chemist leads to the multiplicative violence. Double story line.

What Wife remembers most from the book is that it is narrated from Eli’s perspective, so you have a lot more verbalization of his feelings which makes him the center of sympathy. The film flattens out that subjective lens, which is not to say it’s a bad thing. The inscrutability of the Sisters Brothers’ motives and their future plans is a source of high tension in the film, and the growing divergence between Eli and Charlie naturally splits the audience. Wife mentions by way of the film’s divergence from the scrip that in the novel Eli’s Romance pops up in the middle of Eli’s adventure, rather than prior to the action in the film (“Might have been the prostitute with the scarf”). The way in which John C. Reily plays the scene with the woman in the brothel is masterful tragicomic scene. Wife suggests that one of the central tragic points of the story is Charlie’s responsibility for the death of the two companions. His arrogance and shortsightedness leads to an unfixable mistake. Charlie’s greed is self-destructive, even as the Sisters Brothers prove to be less affected by the formula than their counterparts. She mentioned something about the way in which memory and regret in the film are unidirectional (my coinage) and no one mourns the loss of the formula. I think that idea about the reluctance to dwell on the past, the momentum that drives the brothers forward but also the guilt that plagues them and draws them together are all part of the depiction of violence as well.

One thing that stands out in this movie is the choreography of fighting, such that the drama of the action is not about whether the brothers will survive, but rather “how they will deal with the emotional consequences” (as Wife puts it) of their participation in that violence. The scene where Eli must dispatch the very same people that Charlie has just put forward as possible new partners in the event of Eli’s departure from the headhunting business is deliciously ironic. The skill with which the brothers fight actually takes some of the thrill out of the action sequences, but I think it’s done intentionally. The film is interested in their coping with decisions as it is with the effectiveness of their violent deeds.

The false bottom ending turns upside down the action genre structure. Revenge film tropes are obliterated. Having just rewatched You Were Never Really Here again last night three weeks ago, they have remarkably similar structures. The triumphant, Odyssean return to Ithaka is deflated and challenged, and in lieu of a blaze of glory, bloody reckoning (itself a morally fraught act), the protagonists are forced to grapple with their alternatives.

Check The Sisters Brothers out. It’s one of my favorite of the year.

An update from March of 2019: John C Reilly won a Razzie for his work this past year and he doesn’t deserve it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CLUELESS35861

Feb 25, 2019

Really great modern western tale. Excellent cast and script, with a minor caveat to the "good guys" being the only ones who can shoot straight and hit their targets. I am surprised John C. Reilly was overlooked on Oscar's night, but, the movie did not even play local theaters, so, good oldReally great modern western tale. Excellent cast and script, with a minor caveat to the "good guys" being the only ones who can shoot straight and hit their targets. I am surprised John C. Reilly was overlooked on Oscar's night, but, the movie did not even play local theaters, so, good old hollywood politics at work again. Wonderful photography, right up there with "the hateful 8". Most convincing job by Riz Ahmed, to date.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

GrantD243

Jun 26, 2019

This is one of the better westerns in recent memory, and it has fantastic performances, but at the end of the day it doesn't separate itself from the many other great films already in the genre.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

NickTheCritick

Mar 28, 2022

Original Western, cheerful and full of interesting ideas that takes inspiration from the classic Western about gold diggers. I think there are few flaws in the script in the last 15 minutes that I didn't enjoy as much as I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the movie. Otherwise the grade would haveOriginal Western, cheerful and full of interesting ideas that takes inspiration from the classic Western about gold diggers. I think there are few flaws in the script in the last 15 minutes that I didn't enjoy as much as I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the movie. Otherwise the grade would have been even higher. Great acting by Joaquin and Railly. Aidoard is a good director.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Oct 23, 2018

This Wild West duo features Joaquin Phoenix as the unruly brother and John C. Reilly as the sensitive one. They're sent to kill a prospector (Riz Ahmed) who's stolen from their boss (Rutger Hauer in a silent cameo). Even though it's a set in the 1850s, this has an edgy contemporary feel thatThis Wild West duo features Joaquin Phoenix as the unruly brother and John C. Reilly as the sensitive one. They're sent to kill a prospector (Riz Ahmed) who's stolen from their boss (Rutger Hauer in a silent cameo). Even though it's a set in the 1850s, this has an edgy contemporary feel that makes it a bit more unusual. The fact that the filmmaker is French (Jacques Audiard) also contributes to the unique approach. Instead of the expected bloody violence, the shootouts are full of gunpowder flashes and loud noise. There's some expectedly-beautiful scenery, period hardships and interesting variations on the typical tale. It's the relationships of the characters (which also includes Jake Gyllenhaal) and Audiard's perspective that make it most interesting.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

Broyax

Mar 8, 2021

Les frèrots Sisters !… rien que le titre ressemble à un mauvais calembour à un demi-dollar troué… et les soeurettes Brothers, elle sont où alors ? hein ?!… avec le père Mother, je suppose… mais passons, car il ne s’agit pas d’un western comme les autres, c’est surtout un « western »Les frèrots Sisters !… rien que le titre ressemble à un mauvais calembour à un demi-dollar troué… et les soeurettes Brothers, elle sont où alors ? hein ?!… avec le père Mother, je suppose… mais passons, car il ne s’agit pas d’un western comme les autres, c’est surtout un « western » psychologique, un peu trop lent et lymphatique pour être honnête : un film de Jacques Audiard donc !

L’incapable bien connu chez nous pour ses daubes à dormir debout se met à tourner pour Hollywood, maintenant ! mais où va le monde sans déconner… on y retrouve donc tout ce qu’il ne sait pas faire, c’est-à-dire… du cinéma. Notamment, les quelques scènes d’action, les fusillades égrénées ici et là auxquelles on ne pige que dalle : le montage ultra cut, parfois très move (en plus !), les plans trop resserrés… en bref, un vrai foutoir ! y compris lorsque ça ne tire pas, lors de l’incident dans la rivière, on capte putain de que dalle à ce qui peut bien se passer…

Jacques Audiard est un cave (son merveilleux papa doit se retourner dans sa tombe) qui ne sait pas y faire et même un stagiaire ferait mieux. Par ailleurs, l’histoire est un mélange de la petite maison dans la prairie (cf la fin, mon dieu !) et de deux tueurs professionnels et accessoirement de deux vrais connards qui devraient très logiquement finir entre quatre planches…

En outre, son agenda écolo est tout à fait surprenant et bien peu crédible… tout comme le type qu’ils doivent « retrouver », à savoir un indo-afghano-pakistanais au Far West… en 1851 ! ben voyons ! et la marmotte, elle emballe les balles dans le papier alu ? heureusement, le duo Phoenix-Reilly fonctionne très bien, la photographie est belle… mais c’est tout. Voilà donc une énième daube du fiston Audiard qui continue de décevoir, lamentablement.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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