Directed by Jim Sheridan (In The Name of the Father, The Boxer, In America)

Written by David Benioff (The 25th Hour)

Starring Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhall, Sam Shepard

Synopsis: “A young man recently release from prison (Gyllenhall) comforts his older brother’s wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan.”

I have to say I enjoyed this movie. The trailer, which is what convinced me to watch the movie, starts out showing the movie like its any plain old, boring melodrama, but then shows a really surprising shift in tone towards the end. And though it made me want to see the movie, it also gave away a lot of story information, so I didn’t know exactly what to think going into it. It was good though. And knowing more of the plot points than I would’ve liked didn’t end up mattering that much, since the movie is a lot more about the performances than it is the story. Overall, the story in this movie seems to simply exist for the sole reason of pushing these actors to their various extremes, which, though doesn’t make for the best movie ever, was very entertaining to watch. Tobey Maguire was especially good, showing a lot more range than I’ve ever seen out of him.

Pretty solid.