The Brothers

I'll start off by saying that this was definately worth the rental price I paid for it. The DVD was great, and I felt very satisfied with my rental. "The Brothers" was a good movie that I enjoyed while watching, but when it was over I did not have the same satisfaction that I have gotten from other films in the same genre (such as "The Best Man" or "The Wood").

For one thing, I felt at times the script was dead boring, and humor was often not used enough. D.L. was a misplaced role for sure, his "humor" did NOT shine through, which was a major trip for the film because he was supposed to be the most humorous character. Still, enjoyable roles were played by both parents, as well as the solid performances by Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union.

"The Brothers" of the cast all went pretty well together, and the whole basketball theme was a good background. However, "the sisters" were not a very good combination. I didn't so much enjoy their scenes together. Also the rather random discussion of rejecting their... you know what, was completely out of the blue, and it was sharply contradictary to things said both before and after that discussion. Tamala Jones was bad in this role. In fact, I really didn't like any of the female characters in this movie.

The script was not very complete at times, and there were some very random emotional scenes from time to time, like the "I need a hug" scene. Completely unnecessay! The film is wasted talent in many ways, but it still came enough together to give me a decent viewing that I enjoyed for the price. I won't rent it again though.

Interesting that as I write this review, I consider lowering my star rating because upon mental review, there are many non-satisfying aspects of this film. Still, for this I'll stick with my original rating - 6/10

This is a very funny and heartfelt movie that uses every urban movie cliche of the last 20 years but still wins based on good performances by its cast. D.L. Hughley and Bill Bellamy are particularly good and both extremely funny. Bellamy plays the "player" but ends up sad and kind of lonely as the film moves on. Morris Chestnut is always good in dramatic roles and this is no different. "The Brothers" works and is enjoyable even if we've seen most of this before.

It's time for a movie from the standpoint of the guys....no more should we have to sit idly by and listen to the screaming of the women telling how like dogs we are rather, we should prove it ourselves...wait, that didn't sound right. The Brothers is an entertaining movie about four friends played by Shemar Moore, D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy, and Morris Chestnutt. The four men get together every week to play ball and catch up on either other's lives. Unfortunately Moore is threatening to break up the group by getting engaged. The movie then goes through the every day actions and re-actions of the four. Hughley is not happily married. He does have a child but his wife...won't do certain things for him, and as a result he threatens to move his senile mother in with them. Bellamy is the ultimate player who decides he can no longer stick with the "Sista's" because they are basically crazy so he is going to try other women...read white...to see how they are. Moore is trying to catch up to what he has done out of fear of getting older and being by himself and Chestnutt is commitment phobic and fighting with the revelations that have arrived around his new girlfriend who had seemed to be getting him over his problem. The movie is very well done. It jumps from star to star with no problems in coherent story-telling. The acting is quite good and some of the supporting characters are hilarious. The movie is packed with comedy and drama however it can be a tad vulgar in some people's eyes. Overall I really enjoyed this one but would place both Best Man and The Wood above it in terms of total quality.

I can't believe this movie has received a 5.4 on IMDb. Ratings like that make me lose trust in IMDb critics. This movie is NOT a Tyler Perry, low-quality movie and VASTLY deserves a higher rating than a 5.4! Come on now!

When I first saw this movie years ago, I was impressed. As I've caught it recently on the cable movie channels, I realized my first impression was not a fluke. This really IS a quality film. (DISH Network agrees, it gets 3 out of 4 stars on their rating system.) Funny, but not slapstick. Great acting (I have to admit I was surprised at how well the cast did, especially Gabrielle Union who at the time was a newcomer and DL Hughley whose specialty is comedy.) "Real" characters, real dialogue. Good drama. Even some unpredictability. This movie comes across as genuine and broaches the issues of relationships and friendships and even family much more realistically than does say the self-prescribed relationship flick, "Why Did I Get Married?"

Even if I hate to (at the risk of adding to the unfairly low rating of this movie), I have to offer honest criticism so that this critique can have integrity. There were some parts of the storyline that were too manufactured and soap opera-ish (enter the girlfriend who just happened to date the father of the man she's fallen in love with) and other parts that were a little too cheesy for what was otherwise a realistic, relatable expose on relationships (enter the two main characters end up together after the overused "man begs for woman back after woman has 'moved on'). Other parts wrap up a little too neatly as well, as all the characters get their happy ending, most of the conflicted characters come around and miraculously see the light, lol (like the unaffectionate mother of Bellamy's character somehow realizing the err of her ways and *gasp* hugging her son for the first time and professing her love, or Moore's character suddenly wanting to be with the woman he just essentially stood up at the alter again.)

But those knocks on the film are not significant because the film at its essence is a feel-gooder. It's not deep, it doesn't offend, it doesn't make you uncomfortable. It makes you laugh and think a little and smile after it goes off. That's what it sets out to do and the mission was accomplished. You will enjoy your movie-watching experience.

7.5

Wow i saw this movie and thought is was quite fun to watch, and then look at the ratings here and see the majority of them are ones. Serious black films get critique harder then other films because black viewers want to have a great black film. So a movie with like this with well-to-do men, exagerated characters, and lots of mood lightening humor wont win any academy awards. But thats not to say this is a bad film. Its very good at what it tries to do. This film is enjoyable whether you are white or black.