As BROTHERHOOD arrived on my doorstep last week, I sighed massively. Another unknown film to review, which in itself is not an issue, but after a run of indeed run-of-the-mill DVD screeners and direct-to-DVD rubbish, the last thing that I wanted to watch was yet another.Thankfully, this movie is not one of them.
BROTHERHOOD revolves around a bunch of US college kids that are part of a fraternity. When taking in new pledges, as part of tradition, said frat house has a number of initiation rituals that each pledge has to undertake to be accepted. One of these rituals is to rob a specific amount of cash from gas stations across town, and this is where our film begins. One of these ‘robberies’ indeed goes a bit bit ‘bad’ and this triggers a series of events that tests the limits of the group’s friendships and indeed ‘Brotherhood’.
Directed by NYU-trained filmmaker Will Canon, the film is a tightly woven story spread over a rather short 76 minutes. Drawing obvious inspiration from the likes of films like GO, RESERVOIR DOGS and even NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE and REVENGE OF THE NERDS (minus the nerds) to a certain extend, BROTHERHOOD was actually a pleasant surprise. Wonderfully shot, the film features strong performances from its lead cast of mostly unknowns, a stand out being former child actor Trevor Morgan, who you may know from THE PATRIOT and THE SIXTH SENSE.
The script leads us through various unexpected twists and turns, and largely due to it’s very short running time, moves at a respectable pace throughout. I love the mental battles that Morgan’s character of Adam has to deal with, as well as the physical ones that play out on screen.
The timing, and indeed length of the film is pretty much spot on, as something even a little longer possibly could have worked against it.
In a current run of tosh hitting the UK rental and retail DVD market, BROTHERHOOD was a refreshing change, and I pleased that the film will be given a theatrical run in the US from February 18th… and deservedly so.
Grade: B-
BROTHERHOOD is released on DVD in the UK from January 31st, 2011.
