[Updated] Brothers, 'a woman's fantasy film' - 'I have Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in love with me and I want both of them'

The last few days have seemed like some kind of Gyllenbootcamp - admittedly I didn't have anyone throw a bottle at my head or make me run thirty miles with a bag of bricks on my back, but otherwise pretty close, I'd say. What with all of the Brothers hoohaa on top of exotic slices of Prince of Persia and little glimpses of Love and Other Drugs and tantalising hints of future scifi, it's been round the clock Gyllenhaalism. Gotta say - I like it! And today there's more, but it's a bit more gentle. We can take our time. It's not quite get-the-slippers-out time but you might not need the latest shox Nike.


The Brothers press conference was a few days ago and we're starting to get a little bit more from it, now that the journalists have got round to writing up the minutes. First off, we have an audio clip of Jake Gyllenhaal not talking about Brothers but talking about Love and Other Drugs. Jake reminisces that the night before the conference filming went on late in Pittsburgh, not least because every time he drove down the street the 'gas tank' would pop open and the scene would have to be reset. I must admit that I had to listen to this clip a few times, wishing I had one of these American-English Dictionaries. Here's the clip.


ComingSoon has now released more of the press conference, although much of what Jake says we'd heard before from the Boston Herald. However, there are little bits and pieces that are new and it's interesting to hear Tobey Maguire talk about his role. His approach is clearly different from Jake's. It's also good to hear Natalie enthuse about her two male leads: '"It was actually really exciting 'cause this is the first time I've ever worked with actors that I knew before. I met Tobey when I was 14, I met Jake when I was 18, so there was a level of familiarity from the first day, which was really a nice way to enter into it. We also had a nice rehearsal period for a few weeks before we started, where we got to go over each other's houses and talk about it and try things out."'


'"I had heard about this project happening a while before anybody was talking to me about it and then I heard about it again when Jim and Jake was involved," Maguire added. "I got really excited about working with these guys and getting to play that relationship with Jake. It was something that really attracted me to it, other than the subject matter. The idea of working with Natalie, like she said. I remember the day that I met her, she taught me a valuable lesson, which was the "three block rule." We were at a screening of a movie and I don't think I liked the movie that much and I was going to talk about it and she said, 'Wait a second, you don't know the three-block rule. You don't talk about the movie until you're three blocks away, cause you never know who is listening.' I've remembered that since then."' I don't think that applies to just movie-making...


I get a sense that the reporter became irritated by Jake's lighter mood and was not fully prepared for a press conference with Jake, which will inevitably feature some GyllenSpeak (treasured by many, incomprehensible to others): '"That (chemistry) was just there," Gyllenhaal continued. "It existed and it took very little to make that happen, and I think that's incredible. A little uncomfortable on set sometimes because what is real sometimes is also what is being pretended, but at the same time, as an actor, it's great food... for a great meal," he said screeching to a halt, realizing it wasn't going where he thought.'


'Gyllenhaal also stepped forward to address the idea of starring in a remake, first in earnest and then a little more facetiously. "I think we all felt this tremendous responsibility and a little bit of a burden in remaking a film. Because the first version of this film was so extraordinary, I think all of us approached each character--because I think we all did watch the movie and each one of the actors gave a pretty extraordinary performances--but I think in transposing it to America, you start to see cultural differences and reactions to situations that are different, depending on the culture. We all looked at that as a great opportunity. And then to have Jim, just coming from Ireland, it was interesting to see how he would say how he would expect the character to act and then how an American would respond to the situation."'


'Realizing that things were getting a bit too serious, he added with a smile, "But being in a remake is great fun. I suggest it to everybody, everybody in the room and every actor out there! Pick your favorite movie and redo it!" And he also immediately realized that as soon as saying that, the joke would appear as a quote in an article much like this one.' You can read much more here.


Jim Sheridan is an Irish national treasure and Irish Central is in no doubt today that Jim will walk away from the Academy Awards with the Oscar due to him. 'It’s not difficult to make this prediction. “Brothers,” Sheridan’s latest and most accomplished work to date, finds a way to skillfully address some of the most momentous questions now facing the U.S., but on a human scale, and in the process he inspires some unforgettable performances from his stellar cast.' It's a truism that Jim has accepted that in order for a film to win attention in Ireland, Great Britain and Europe, it must first attract American audiences: '“A movie has to open in America before it goes back home. They made the mistake of opening ‘Once’ and ‘The Crying Game’ in Ireland, and they did no business. It’s only when it exists within the American framework that it exists as a movie. What people think is we never heard of that, it didn’t open in America, so it can’t be a real movie.”'

As with all his films, Jim brought his own experiences of family to Brothers. '“I think there was a lot of vying for attention in our own family in Dublin, so it’s fairly easy for me to transfer that into an American family,” says Sheridan. “Those scenes with Jake and Sam Shepard (the noted playwright and actor), they’re just me and my dad. That’s all that is you know? I kind of understood where these characters were coming from.” Sheridan lost his own brother - inevitably that colours Brothers.


Despite the universal themes, Sheridan wanted to retain an Irish heart for the film. '“Jake had some problems with a few scenes because I’m not sure it’s a natural part of the American kid growing up to fight as much as we do in Ireland,” says Sheridan. “But the Cahills are an Irish American family so I felt like pushing it in that direction. I think the setup is very Irish too.”' Jake: '"Just coming from Ireland it was interesting how Jim thought my character would act compared to my own American take,” Gyllenhaal says. “There’s a moment in the film when Natalie’s character tells mine that my brother is dead, and Jim suggested I fall on the ground and make snow angels. I said to him very quietly I don’t know if an American would react like that.”'


And in the conclusion to this fine article: 'What happens to Maguire’s character puts him in such crisis that it becomes a live or die gamble. It also makes “Brothers” one of the most searing films about war and its consequences to have come along in years. With its tension and its stellar cast it is also likely to avoid the lack of interest shown to other recent films that address the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It definitely felt like it was about family to me, whether you define it to be about blood relatives or your husband, your battalion or your family,” says Portman. “It’s about what you sacrifice in order to protect that family. I remember Jim describing it to me as a woman’s fantasy film. I have Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in love with me and I want both of them. For that reason and many more it was a terrific experience making it.”'


A For Your Consideration poster for Brothers has now been released. It intrigues me because it lists Natalie as a candidate for Best Supporting Actress - who does she support exactly?

Updated to add another TV spot - Betrayal.



Includes pictures from IHJ, Lionsgate and links.