DVD/Blu-Ray Mini-Review - The Sisters Brothers (15)

We're the Sisters Brothers. The Sisters Brothers. Both of us.

The Gist: In 1850s Oregon Eli and Charlie Sisters (John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix) work as assassins for a mysterious businessman referred to only as The Commodore. Their reputation precedes them, not least for prospector and chemist Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), whose formula for locating gold the Commodore means to possess by whatever unpleasant means. The Brothers pursue Warm and his new companion John Morris (Jake Gyllenhall) the length of the State, but Charlie's behaviour is becoming ever more reckless, while Eli is having a crisis regarding the duo's long-term prospects in a violent profession. Just how long can they keep killing for a living?

The Juice: Adapted from Canadian Patrick DeWitt's novel of the same name, and by Frenchman Jacques Audiard who also directed, The Sisters Brothers is a skewed homage to the classic American western. The mountains and grasslands are shot with the same sunlit lushness as last year's Hostiles, and the familiar locations of prairie homestead, fire-lit campsite and saloon are in place - but there's also the strangeness of a tale told by outsiders looking in. It's there in some of the places the brothers visit once they reach the civilisation of big-city California. It's in the characters the brothers meet along the way and at the culmination of their quest, not least the oddball pairing of Gyllenhall and Ahmed. And it's most apparent in the unpredictability of a tale you find out you really haven't seen before. This story refuses to do anything you expect. That includes the portrayal of the brothers themselves. The spasmodic violence of Phoenix's younger Sister belies his damaged soul, while Reilly's big brother Eli is protective and quietly philosophical with a broad sentimental streak (he impresses here just as much as he did in Stan and Ollie). 

The Judgement: 8/10. There's much that's recognisable as a traditional frontier tale here, including sporadic outbursts of violence. However The Sisters Brothers has an ambience all its own - macabre and darkly humorous, but also melancholic and strangely touching. With a central quartet of fine performances, plus that distinctive directorial vision, it's a welcome addition to the growing pool of fine 21st century revisionist westerns.