Brotherhood

I was looking forward to a Lord Of The Flies / Lost At Sea Combo but unfortunately it is a bit of an exercise in tedium.

Poor character development and a lot of very weak characters made the story overly long and rambling for me. I appreciate that this was a true story but sometimes you cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear and there was just not enough to make an entire film or perhaps it was the director who did not know how to fill the scenes with enough good dialogue and characterization so it gets a lowly and rather depressing 3/10 from me!

Like a Heritage Minute expanded to ninety, "Brotherhood" just may be the quintessential Canadian film. It is a beautifully shot, carefully paced, charmingly acted, and expertly wardrobed, family fare period piece, right in the wheelhouse of the CBC and NFB. Which also means that it is a little dry, a little too sentimental, and a little too eager to please. But damn it, it is maple leaf red Canadian, and the locals will love it.

Capturing the simple but beautiful landscapes and times of a post First War Kawartha Lakes young men camping adventure, "Brotherhood" is a throwback not only as an historic piece, but also a nod to classic movie making. Strengths and flaws and backgrounds are onion peeled as the scrum navigate boys-to-men, life building skills, culminating in an ultimate weather and water survival test.

Trouble is brewing, that much is clear, as the film flashes forward and back from sunny beach to ominous dark currents. What could have been a groaning plot spoiler, serves as character development whilst navigating a dire circumstance.

Based on fact, "Brotherhood" is good enough to engage in a tragedy for which the ending is no mystery. A little sappy, and a little cliched, it nonetheless entertains, especially to a devout patriotic audience. Perfect for the post Hockey Night in Canada, late Saturday viewing on the small screen.

• hipCRANK

I don't know why they were really going to this camp in the first place. Then I don't know why they decided to go out on a boat. I have no idea what it was like for them when the storm came because it didn't show when the storm started. In fact, I didn't see much of a storm at all. It jumps in the middle of things and back out again, repeatedly. I didn't see a fight for life at all because there was too much bouncing around in the timeline. I saw young men clinging to an overturned boat for a few minutes and then back to the beach before they went out on the boat, and back again. I think at one point I started to literally doze off, but I didn't miss much as nothing was happening when I started to doze off and nothing was happening when I came alert. It was sort of like the entirety of this movie going in and out of a poorly shown event. A lot of nothing happening.

That movie proves that a wonderful movie can be made with a very small budget. All the actors are brilliant. Great rendition of a true story. I just LOVED it! ♥

About a group of boys and their adult leaders that has their brotherhood summer training camp in the canadian wilderness, doing activities that shall strengthen the boy into a man.

but accident happens underway, and the film is adrama about that and their fight to survive.

its not a filom that scares the guts out of you, its more the mental battle to overcome their hardships, and the way the plot is put together are not to overwhelming, id rather say boring., but it gives you time to think out strategies to survive, why not turn the canooe, why not use some floating device etc etc.

im grumpy and im old, and think this is a great film for the lame and slain tv viewers, its not good enough to enter the great screening theaters. the story gives opportunities, but the product are slow and motionless. a small recommend