SpoutBlog on spout.com

If there’s one thing I relate to on the big screen, it’s the depiction of fraternal relationships. I’m the middle of three brothers (excluding the half-brother I only knew as a toddler and the former stepbrother I only knew briefly as an adult), and at different points in my life I’ve either hated them or considered them my best friends. So, yeah, I can’t wait to see Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as new siblings who go from being enemies to BFFs when forced to live together.

Choosing a handful of favorite movies about brotherhood is really tough. After all, tales of brothers go all the way back to almost the beginning, with the story of Cain and Abel. And a number of favorites can’t exactly be discussed, because the revelation of brothers, especially twin brothers, is often the surprise twist in films. So, before you start naming a thousand other films about brothers that I’ve forgotten (such as The Brothers McMullen and Legends of the Fall), keep in mind that I’ve actually left out a whole pile of brother films, and this is more of a personal favorites list.

1. Coupe de Ville – If there’s one movie that seemed to define my brothers and I growing up, it’s this underrated road movie about three estranged siblings (played by Patrick Dempsey, Arye Gross and Daniel Stern) delivering the titular automobile to their father (Alan Arkin). As kids, my brothers and I couldn’t have been any more different, just like the guys in the movie. For at least half a decade, until he seemed to disappear after he left the sitcom Ellen, Gross was like my cinematic alter ego, just because I felt a kinship with his middle-brother character in Coupe de Ville so much.
   
2. Twins – While I’m on the subject of identification, here’s another movie I was able to relate to, as my older brother was (in my young, confused mind) like Schwarzenegger and I was a fat kid. Now that we’re in our 30s, we’re fortunately more physically balanced (or is it just that my perception has matured?).
3. The Godfather Part II – At one time or another, to one degree or another, most of us with brothers have unfortunately had fratricidal thoughts. Again, murdering one’s brother is a plot that goes back to The Book of Genesis, and the theme shows up in some of the greatest of stories, from Shakespeare’s Richard III to the Shakespearean animated film The Lion King. But as I never wanted to murder either of my brothers for gain of power, I’m including this film instead. Oh, wait, I guess I never actually struggled with the idea of whether or not to kill my brother because he’s a liability and an embarrassment, either.
4. The Public Enemy – In fraternal stories, if brothers aren’t trying to kill each other, they’re at least following separate paths, morally and occupationally. Typically, one is a criminal and the other is a cop, politician or priest. This particular gangster film doesn’t portray the divergence as clearly as subsequent films, such as Johnny Dangerously, We Own the Night or any number of Bollywood films, including the classics Deewaar. But it’s the scene in which the brothers argue about their differences and, ultimately, their similarities, that makes the film that much more interesting.
5. Amar Akbar Anthony – Like Deewaar, this film stars Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan and is also about brothers. This time, though, there’s three of them, and each one allegorically represents a different prominent religious group of post-colonial India. Bachchan plays the Catholic one, and the film is worth checking out just for his musical number involving a giant Easter egg.
6. The Best of Youth – Another film about brothers that also represents its nation’s history, this six-hour saga is even longer than the mere three hour Amar Akbar Anthony. If you’re ever in a fraternal mood, you can fill up a whole day of loosely learning about India and Italy via these movies. Or you can simply enjoy two great movies about brothers.
7. American History X – After fratricide and divergence, another common plot involving brothers is the one found here: elder brother tries to keep younger from following in his footsteps. Interestingly enough, Edward Furlong plays the younger in both this film and in Little Odessa.
8. Adaptation – My younger brother and I are differently creative, and in the past we’ve been mistaken for being twins (unlike me and my older brother being like Twins). So, of course, I had to be a sad sack and identify with the protagonist of the story, while viewing the character’s more popular, more successful brother as my own brother. I guess that would put the third act into a sort of wish fulfillment of fratricide. Maybe I need to stop this list before it upsets my currently great relationships with both my brothers.
9. Big Night – Though differently creative, my younger brother and I have at times worked really well together. As many brothers in history have. Though we never attempted to operate a business together, we were in a band together. I guess for that reason I could have used The Blues Brothers here instead, but I like Big Night a whole hell of a lot more.
10. The Darjeeling Limited – Return of the brotherly trio on a trip. Only this time the father has died (good ol’ Oedipal patricide is almost as popular as fratricide – not that any of the brothers killed Dad; I’m merely talking about wish fulfillment for the audience again) and the brothers are even more different (who would ever believe Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody as actual siblings?). I wonder if Wes Anderson ever saw Coupe de Ville. Or Amar Akbar Anthony.

And here’s 10 more favorite brother films: Simple Men; Rain Man; La Bamba; Undertow; The Brothers Grimm; The City of Lost Children; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Thirteen Days; The Funeral; The Wind that Shakes the Barley.