Brother's Shadow

Interesting story of aJewish prodigal son returning to claim His rightful place after the death of his brother..

Kudos to the writers of this film for creating a supremely engaging drama. The curious character development is indicative of a nuanced and well schooled writing team. The audience member cannot but help but to feel that (s)he must make wrenching emotional decisions pitting the cerebral against the libidinal. The viewer has an opportunity to develop the character herself, though her predictions are rarely validated.

Credit is also due to the filmmakers for breathing life into the setting. The wood-shop is transformed into a unique persona as the film unfolds, with its own traits, faults, a variety of highly charged relationships, and of course a fate inexorably tied to that of the other principals.

Make sure to catch this one at your local art-house.

One of the things that interested me most about this film is the way the characters and their associated histories are developed on the fly. I suppose the writers wanted us to gain interest in the characters by not force feeding their characters. The premise of using the art and craft of furniture design and construction was a unique theme and/or analogy for what families/siblings go through in life. The complexity of having a twin serve as a surrogate father and even husband added great tension towards making this film emotionally interesting. Also, although the story was not one that the masses might directly relate to (i.e. Jewish/twins/family business) the themes are fairly universal as every family has a black sheep in it. That made it very engaging.

What percentage of movies does a person go to see these days that leave them wondering what happened to their eight to ten dollars? ANSWER: TOO MANY! This movie isn't like that. It is a story about real people that are sometimes a combination of both likable and unlikable.

Downside:

Not enough character development & some plot lines left twisting in the wind.

Upside:

Forces viewers to think about the choices they have made for good or bad in their own lives.

Well acted by: Scott Cohen, Judd Hirsch, Susan Floyd, Ato Essandoh and Elliot Korte.

Contains some good lighthearted humor.

There were a lot of good raw materials here, but the makers did not flesh out the characters or back story nearly enough to create a satisfying experience.

We got a taste of different appetizers that we thought might lead somewhere but they never did.

I understand that the father led a morally dubious life and was now dabbling in religion, but he never explains beyond one line.

Meanwhile the depiction of secular Jews' relationship with tradition was sadly accurate according to my experience. A sort of indifference or tacit mockery. One reviewer mentioned anti-Semitism. Probably relating to a scene involving gambling during a major religious service.

What was the original nature of the relationship between our lead character and the woman? Did she choose his brother because this guy left town, or had she already chosen him? What makes one person toe the line of respectability and one give in to his demons? More could have been said about that.

Why was the business struggling? Let's hear more about what it's like to run a small business in today's "Big Box" economy. Who were the laid off workers that used to work for the good brother? Were they trained carpenters, or learned from this family over many years?

What was good was the look and feel of the characters, the street, and the shop. I believed it. It was interesting to see a rugged, 6'1 alpha male as the Jewish lead coming home to Brooklyn. That's original. As was Judd Hirsch as a philanderer.

It was a nice, thoughtful little film, but missing the kind of core writing and insight that makes a nice film a memorable one.