I WAS FRIENDS WITH ONE OF THE two brothers. Though I did not know much about the older brother, it was apparent the two brothers were quite different. My friend had an idea what he wanted to do when he grew up. Maybe the brother did too; but I was not aware of it. I do remember whenever the brother would mention a career path he was interested in doing, his parents would usually nod their heads and mention something else they thought was better suited for him. Now granted, a lot of the times I would hear these conversations taking place from a different room while my friend and I were doing something in an adjoining space; so I could not see the physical reactions that I am sure were accompanying the dialog. If someone were to ask me how I thought the conversations were going, I would say they sounded more combative than a calm discussion. Whether these talks had an affect on the brother, I do not know. The only thing that was quite apparent to me was how dark the older brother seemed compared to his younger brother. By dark, I mean he was more of a moody soul that rarely cracked a smile; heck, he barely said hello to me whenever I came over to their place.      ONE OF THE REASONS I REMEMBER THESE two brothers is because they were the first set of brothers I knew who were so different in almost every aspect of their lives. I always assumed my friend was much smarter, though he was not athletic like his brother. The younger one never got into a fight with his parents (at least while I was around) like the older one. There were a couple of times I was over at their house when the older son and his parents would get into a screaming match that nearly made the walls shake. The yelling would end with the son either slamming the door as he went into his bedroom or slamming the front door as he ran out of the house; it was always an awkward moment for me. I would look over at my friend and all he could do was shrug his shoulders with a sheepish grin on his face; I felt bad for him. As long as I knew them, nothing ever changed in that family. The last I heard about them was that the older son had moved out during high school and hasn’t talked to his parents since. I wondered if the family in this film festival winning drama had a similar dynamic that made their sons so different.      RETURNING TO THE SMALL TOWN HE GREW up in, a Vietnam vet’s brother hopes he can convince his brother to settle down and enjoy what life has to offer both of them. The returning brother did not see it quite the same. Written and directed by Sean Penn (Gangster Squad, Milk), this movie starred David Morse (The Hurt Locker, The Green Mile) as Joe Roberts, Viggo Mortensen (Green Book, Captain Fantastic) as Frank Roberts, Valeria Golino (Hot Shots franchise) as Maria, Patricia Arquette (Boyhood, Medium-TV) as Dorothy and Charles Bronson (Death Wish franchise, The Magnificent Seven) as Mr. Roberts. This was a slow to start story for me. It was wild to see some of the actors in their younger versions, since this film was nearly 20 years old. I thought Viggo, David and Patricia were especially strong with their acting. The script provided me a glimpse into a different world, set in a rural town at a time where things moved slower. There was a bit of repetition with the scenes dealing with the brothers; however, as bits and pieces was being revealed I found myself becoming more interested in where they were going in the story. If nothing else, it was interesting to see how 2 brothers who were raised in one house turned out in life.

2 ¾ stars