The Sisters Brothers Movie Review

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Buy The Sisters Brothers on Amazon (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link) 
Written by: Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain (screenplay by), Patrick DeWitt (based on the book by)
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Starring: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rutger Hauer
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Eli and Charlie Sisters, an infamous duo of gunslinging assassins, chase a gold prospector and his unexpected ally in 1850s Oregon.

Verdict
This has several interesting elements, but they just don't come together. I like the journey the brothers take, this new way to find gold, and even the new inventions of the time period. The action is never very interesting, always happening at a distance or off screen. The brothers are on this contract, mainly because the movie needs it to be the plot. That's most of the movie and the same reason they fight. Characters recact because the plot requires it. There's no character motivation, and it leaves the movie feeling hollow.
Skip it.

Review
Gyllenhaal and Ahmed previously starred together in Nightcrawler (2014).

A shootout opens the movie and introduces the Sisters brothers Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix). They're hired guns that do the The Commodore's (Rutger Hauer) bidding, and their next task is to kill a man heading to California. John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) is tracking the target, Hermann (Riz Ahmed), and will hand him over to the brothers.

John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix play Eli, Charlie Sisters

The Sisters brothers have a contentious relationship, and comical mishaps slow them down. Eli swallows a spider while asleep and a bear attacks their camp. They're having trouble finding Hermann as he and Morris have teamed up. Now the brothers are following both of them. Trouble finds them in Mayfield, leading to another shootout.

When they reach San Francisco, Eli considers retirement which only irritates Charlie. Eli decides this will be his last job. The brothers are subdued by Hermann and Morris before they can acquire their target, but an attack by someone else after Hermann leads to a testy alliance. The brothers agree to join Hermann and Morris. Prospecting is a better paying job, and the root of all the violence is Hermann's formula. He's found a way to make prospecting for gold much easier.

Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed play Charlie, Eli, Morris, Hermann

As with everything the brothers have undertaken, it doesn't work out as planned. They've had quite the journey, from hired assassins to joining their target and becoming gold prospectors, to ending up back home with their ma.

This has a lot of ideas, but it ends up being a jumble. Everything seems to happen to prop up the plot. Why does Eli want to quit other than to add drama? They stumble into prospecting and just as quickly stumble out. This ends with them going back home, and I wasn't really sure why that was the path they took.