Amazon Prime Video's latest movie is a comic crime caper about low-rent criminals... but is it worth a watch?
"Brothers" had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 10, ahead of its global launch on Prime Video on Friday, October 17. Since its release last week, "Brothers" has quickly claimed the no. 1 spot on the Prime Video Top 10 movies list.
Given it's the second feature from director Max Barbakow — who helmed the acclaimed Prime Video sci-fi rom-com, "Palm Springs" — it's not all too surprising that "Brothers" has taken off. The problem is... a lot of the people who've checked it out aren't exactly showering Barbakow's new release with praise. Curious? Below, you can find more information about "Brothers", along with a sample of what critics have been saying about the Prime Video movie.
What is 'Brothers' about?
"Brothers" is a breezy, R-rated road-trip comedy that revolves, unsurprisingly, around a pair of siblings.
On the one hand, we've got Moke, a reformed criminal (Josh Brolin) who now leads an honest life with his wife, Abby (Taylour Paige). On the other, we've got Jady (Peter Dinklage), his "sanity-testing" twin brother who waltzes back into Moke's life after securing an early release from prison and drags his brother on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to bag one last big score. Cue legal trouble, shoot-outs, and drama that'll test their relationship... can they reconcile before the mission destroys them?
In addition to Brolin, Dinklage and Paige, "Brothers" also features Glenn Close, Jennifer Landon, Brendan Fraser and, in his final on-screen appearance, the late actor, M. Emmet Walsh.
Should you stream 'Brothers' on Prime Video?
The general consensus is no, you should skip "Brothers" and find something else to stream on Prime Video. It's not a great look for the streamer to have another flop take the top spot; "Brothers" stole the No. 1 spot from "Killer Heat", which also wasn't exactly received very well, either.
At the time of writing, the movie's got a rather unimpressive 41% critics' rating on the review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes. Although that's only from a total of 17 reviews, the split definitely leans towards, well, rotten. The audience score's not much better either, sitting at just 48% on the Popcornmeter.
Variety's Peter Debruge said "Brothers" "resembles countless films that have come before — in this case, dimwit rural crime capers, from “Raizing Arizona” to “Logan Lucky,” but also/especially the mid-2000s sitcom “My Name Is Earl” — but lacks the original spin or improv-ready leads that might have set it apart."
In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Lowe was similarly disappointed, writing: "Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage play mismatched siblings with heavy jaws (enhanced in Dinklage's case by a handlebar mustache) in Max Barbakow's second feature, which finds him trading the subtler comic shadings of "Palm Springs" for ham-fisted humor, to disappointingly diminishing effect."
That said, it's not all bad: RogerEbert.com critic Matt Zoller Seitz gave "Brothers" a 3/4 star rating, calling it "far from completely bad", adding: "In fact, it's a pretty good movie that, thanks mainly to its performances, has a lot more life than you might expect, given the concept and the formulaic way that it hits its major story points".
If you were planning on checking "Brothers" out but have since decided to give it a miss, we've still got plenty more streaming recommendations to help you plan your next movie night. Be sure to check out our list of the best movies on Prime Video that you can watch right now. Or, given that it's Spooky Season, why not take a look at our list of the 7 new to Prime Video movies that are perfect for Halloween?
