Brother's Justice

Director Dax Sheppard's 2 other movies are really worthwhile watching: "Hit and Run" and "CHIPS" are both really original, exciting and witty, but this directorial debut is NOT a movie at all, but a fake documentary, that wants to make fun of the difficulties of getting a movie made in Hollywood.

Quentin Tarantino has said it. Steven Spielberg has said the same thing before: just start making a movie with nothing IF you are REALLY passionate about directing. And this mockumentary is the result. He cant get any financing to fund this movie idea of his, so let's make fun of this whole tiresome process of NOT finding money for a picture by making a fake documentary about it. Unfortunately it ismt witty enough all the time to be captivated by it. Better watch Dax Shepard's other 2 movies, those other 2 REAL movies are absolutely terrific!

I have never disliked Dax Shepherd. His work on Punk'd was funny for what it was, he was great in "Idiocracy" and, from my limited exposure to him on that set, he is a damned nice guy. He has made some bad movies, that isn't in question, but when the checks start being written who among us is really gonna say no? So, knowing that Dax can be quite funny, and reading the synopsis of this film I had decent hopes. This is a mockumentary about Dax trying to launch himself as a martial arts movie star, even though he has no training. We follow him and his producer friend around as they try to get studio interest, attach stars, and get the thing made.

The problem is that it isn't that funny. It's funny, but just not very. The problem with making a movie like this is that you have to make it look real while still maintaining comic timing. These two things don't work together easily. This movie is full of overlong scenes, timing that is just slow enough to flatten jokes, and silences that go on too long. These things are a part of this type of film and can work if they are turned into comic beats of their own (look at the work of Chris Guest for how to do this). Sadly they aren't here.

What we are left with, instead, is a somewhat funny movie that could have been a VERY funny movie. Dax does have ability, he just needs to take the time to develop it. I wasn't terribly disappointed, because there were some really great moments, fantastic cameos, and truly funny performances, but they aren't enough to get past the flat timing and lifeless direction.

this film threw me a curve ball, i had no idea what to expect when i watched this. it has some familiar names and it was sorta interesting. its more like a documentary type of film with the 3rd party sorta thing. its clearly low budget and it was not the worst thing to watch yet i know you can see something else that might not be a big wast of your time like this film is. you most likely only herd of this film if you keep an eye out for new DVD's coming out and thats how i found it. i had a few laughs here and there and don't expect much from this and you will be OK knowing that its a wast of time. watch only when your bored and given up hope.

A "documentary" about Dax Shepard retiring from comedy so he can pursue his dream of becoming a Martial Arts action star. Seriously. OK, maybe not so seriously. The beginning has Dax and his producing partner Nate Tucker going from agent to lawyer to producers to actors to directors to sell his karate idea "Brother's Justice", well, at this stage it's really just a title. When it's funny, it's very funny.

The problem is, when it's not funny, it's not anything. For an hour and a half run time, it's awfully long for a one-joke movie. Because really, that's all this is, one joke about Shepard trying to sell Hollywood on the idea of him becoming an action star in the ilk of Steven Segal. The idea that this documentary is serious is supposed to be funny, but I can't take this seriously. I've seen enough of Shepard in both comedy and drama roles that I know he's not actually this stupid.

It's cool that so many Hollywood hot-shots were willing to make themselves look like arrogant jerks for the sake of Dax Shepard and this (documentary? movie? —I don't know what to call it). At least their parts mostly work because Jon Favreau, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold can all do comedy and drama.

Ironically, unlike Dax's "successful" comedies like "Employee of the Month" (2006) and "When in Rome" (2010), "Brother's Justice" actually has all the elements of a good story: a sympathetic character (who doesn't want to see a good guy succeed in Hollywood?), conflict (Dax thinks it's a good idea, Hollywood does not), drama, comedy, and then the idea that friendship rises above everything. But none of that really works here.

Unintentionally, "Brother's Justice" just proves that Dax Shepard is best suited for comedy, or maybe that's its entire purpose. I never was sure if I was supposed to take this seriously or as one long joke. I'm sorry Dax, but I will always highly value your dramatic work in "Parenthood" and "The Freebie" (2010).

No really? No seriously, really? this was so stupid I can't even imagine someone paying money to produce this. I saw it (festival) cause i like some of the cast (jon and Bradley), but I never heard of the lead. Then I came here to IMDb to see what else this guy has been in an then... I understood. Employee of the month. Classic comedy there. let's go to prison and the freebie sound like good idea's but... wow. maybe I'm being to harsh, it's just i don't have a lot of time to spend watching movies and it gets to me when they are this bad.

sorry for anyone involved in the making of this! I only wrote this to save others. Not to bash your work.