What to Watch This Weekend: Fishbowl, Boogie, Coming 2 America, Half Brothers, Boogie, Sophie Jones, Lucky, Dark and the Wicked, The Dig

For A Stylish And Cinematic Drama About Faith and Family: Fishbowl (Amazon)
One of my favorite movies of 2020, Fishbowl's fantastic style, understated humor, wonderful performances, and subtle touches highlight a crisis of family and faith in a small town that cannot accept or cope with either.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Slam Dunk Sports Drama: Boogie (Theaters)
Boogie scores some easy points with its realistic setting and wonderful characters and uses sports to explore issues of race, dreams, and realities.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Hilarious Return To Zamunda: Coming 2 America (Amazon)

Coming 2 America sees a return to Zamunda with a lot of the same cast from the Eddie Murphy classic along with new characters, cameos, and some modern updates.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Horror Film With A Much Deeper Message: Lucky (Shudder)

Lucky has an entertaining premise and a dark comedy, fueled by Brea Grant's writing and performance, that will draw you into its deeper, impactful, and important message.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Realistic And Grow Coming Of Age Drama: Sophie Jones (Virtual Cinema)

Sophie Jones is a complicated and raw coming of age story, with realistic performances by this talented cast and some frank conversations about dating, relationships, and life.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Atmospheric And Tense Horror Experience: The Dark And The Wicked (Shudder)

The Dark and the Wicked will keep you on edge with it's palatable sense of tension, dread-filled atmospheric horror, amazing gore and effects, and wonderfully nuanced characters in a terrible predicament.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Suprisingly Entertaining Buddy Comedy: Half Brothers (Redbox)

Half Brothers has a ridiculous premise, two very likeable stars, and enough laugh out loud and heartfelt moments to make you feel like you're part of this loving, crazy family.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Emotional Period Drama: The Dig (Netflix)

The Dig features wonderful performances from Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, a wonderful setting, and an elegance to the storytelling that will please fans of historical or period dramas!

What to Watch This Weekend: Half Brothers, Getting To Know You, Sound of Metal, Dave Not Coming back, Mayor, Anything For Jackson, Princess of the Row, King of Knives, The Rental

For A Family Adventure Bridging Countries - Half Brothers (In Theaters)

Half Brothers has a ridiculous premise, two very likeable stars, and enough laugh out loud and heartfelt moments to make you feel like you're part of this loving, crazy family.  For more information, check out the review!

For A More Adult, Realistic Romantic Comedy - Getting To Know You (Digital)

Getting To Know You is a wonderful, understated drama / comedy featuring two fantastic leads with amazing chemistry and a realistic, decidedly more adult story about love and life.  For more information, check out our review!

For An Eye And Ear Opening Coming of Age - Sound of Metal (Amazon)

Sound of Metal is an eye opening and innovative journey, with amazing sound design and a story that highlights challenges, dispels stereotypes, and asks some interesting questions about happiness and desire.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Deep Diving Documentary - Dave Not Coming Back (Digital)

Dave Not Coming Back is both a cautionary tale and a beautiful human story about a dive that was bigger than all involved, and that led to some dire consequences.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Fascinating, Human Documentary - Mayor (Virtual Cinema)

Mayor follows the day-to-day life of a charismatic, passionate, and refreshingly open politician navigating some of the unique challenges of managing a Palestinian city striving for modernization and legitimacy.  For more information, check out our review!

For The Horror Fans - Anything For Jackson (Shudder)

Anything For Jackson is a fresh take on the horror ritual genre, with a fantastic style, great performances, and a humorous and unsettling story for these inexperienced cultists.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Heartbreaking Family Drama - Princess of the Row (Digital)

The Princess of the Row is a heartfelt and heartbreaking coming of age story with phenomenal characters and performances, beautiful cinematography, and plenty of intensity and emotion.  For more information, check out our review!

For An Honest And Humorous Family Drama - King of Knives (Digital)

King of Knives is both comedic and honest, with some entertaining characters and important commentary on life, love, and expectations versus reality.  For more information, check out our review!

For The AirBNB Specialists - The Rental (Redbox)

The Rental has a lot of story development but does not overstay its welcome, with good characters, a creepy motif, and a story that layers secrets on secrets.  For more information, check out our review!

Half Brothers Review: A Ridiculous Premise Leads to Plenty of Laughs and Heartfelt Moments

Release date: December 4, 2020

Running time: 96 minutes
Starring: Luis Gerardo Méndez, Connor Del Rio, Juan Pablo Espinosa
Directed By: Luke Greenfield

Renato (Méndez), a successful Mexican aviation executive, is shocked to discover he has an American half brother he never knew about, the free-spirited Asher (Del Rio). The two very different half brothers are forced on a road journey together masterminded by their ailing father, tracing the path their father took as an immigrant from Mexico to the US.

Half Brothers has a ridiculous story, but thankfully it is also a sweet one.  It has some bittersweet moments as it details how these two brothers came to be, but ultimately has plenty of sugar to soften your heart.  The story starts with a fun plane motif that dips in and loops around throughout this film, and it is one that ultimately is a nice anchor for the overall movie.  But film also has some great characters to accompany these sweet moments and fun aviation theme.  The stars of the movie are Renato (Méndez) and his half brother Asher (Del Rio), along with their father Flavio (Espinosa).  Méndez was great as the older brother, with the perfect combination of serious personality and humor due to his no filter statements.  Del Rio as Asher was also fantastic, although he was more of an acquired taste.  This is nothing against Del Rio, as he did an amazing job as Asher and exactly what he needed to.  But that character was more grating at the start and slowly grew on you, as family often does.  And Espinosa as the father, Flavio, was another perfect casting choice, with a sweet, loving demeaner.

Half Brothers starts with some loving scenes that instantly get you invested in the characters before adding the crazy part of the premise.  And the premise of the film is one of pure ridiculousness, but one that allows for some wild experiences, laugh out loud situations, and ultimately sweet moments and lessons.  The dynamic between the two brothers, especially at first, is a very funny one that highlights their differences, but also brings in some stereotypes about both America and Mexico that were poignant and funny.  You can tell that they had a lot of fun filming this and throwing light hearted shade on both countries in the process.  And as the brother's relationship changes, and they learn more and more about what their father has been up to, it really becomes a fun movie with two very different, but ultimately complementary main characters.  The pair get into a lot of random trouble, which leads to some very funny scenes.  Some of these seem to just be inserted for random laughs, and they ultimately accomplish that.  And the movie also has a ridiculous, but ultimately satisfying ending.  And throughout this all, there is some truly beautiful music to pull at your heartstrings at the right times.  

Half Brothers has a ridiculous premise, two very likeable stars, and enough laugh out loud and heartfelt moments to make you feel like you're part of this loving, crazy family.

Watch it.

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Half Brothers is in theaters and premium video on demand December 4.

 

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Screening: Half Brothers (Starring Luis Gerardo Méndez and Connor Del Rio) Virtual Screening - Wednesday, December 2nd

We have screening passes for the hilarious new road trip / buddy cop-style / family craziness movie Half Brothers from Focus Features. The film stars Luis Gerardo Méndez and Connor Del Reio. It debuts in theaters December 4th, but you can see it EARLY AND FREE by entering for the virtual screening below.

Synopsis:

Renato, a successful Mexican aviation executive, is shocked to discover he has an American half brother he never knew about, the free-spirited Asher. The two very different half brothers are forced on a road journey together masterminded by their ailing father, tracing the path their father took as an immigrant from Mexico to the US.

SCREENING INFO

Half Brothers
Wednesday, December 2nd
7:30 PM EST
Virtual!
Check out the Trailer!

Screening Link: http://focusfeaturesscreenings.com/WOPHB