The Sisters Brothers (2018)

John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as Eli and Charlie Sisters, killers for hire.

And they’re often in the employ of a business tycooon named The Commodore, getting even for him when he feels he’s been wronged.

Their new assignment: Track down a scoundrel named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed).

They’ll have help. A tracker named John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) is supposed to locate Warm, then keep him in sight until the Sisters Brothers catch up and finish the job.

But this job is less about righting a wrong than greed on the part of The Commodore.

Seems Warm has come up with a recipe for a chemical that, dumped into water, will light up the gold in a stream, making it easy pickings.

Learning that, and Warm’s desire to use any gold he finds to create a new, peaceful, truly democratic community in Texas, Morris decides to join him in his endeavors.

Learning that, Eli Sisters is ready to pronounce this the brothers’ last job for The Commodore. Because they’re supposed to torture Warm, if necessary, to learn his secret.

Charlie Sisters is more reluctant to change his ways. For one thing, he knows you don’t cross The Commodore. Unless The Commodore is dead.

Joaquin Phoenix as Charlie Sisters, discussing future ambitions with his brother in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

John C. Reilly as Eli Sisters learns the true reason for their pursuit of Warm in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Review:

A fairly well-done character study of two brothers who find themselves caught up in the violence of the West.

Charlie fancies himself the brains of the duo. At one point, he even assumes “the lead” role for the twosome.

But it’s Eli who’s more emotionally mature as he begins to wonder if there isn’t more to life than killing at another man’s command.

As the older brother, he even regrets not being the one to kill their abusive father.

That chore fell to Charlie, and he’s never been the same since, Eli confides.

Filmed in France, Spain and Romania, this became the first English-language Western made by a French director.

Riz Ahmed as Hermann Kermit Warm talks about his dreams of founding a new peaceful, democratic new community in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Jaake Gyllenhaal as John Morris, tracking prey for the Sisters brothers in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Directed by:
Jacques Audiard

Cast:
John C. Reilly … Eli Sisters
Joaquin Phoenix … Charlie Sisters
Jake Gyllenhaal … John Morris
Riz Ahmed … Hermann Kermit Warm
Rebecca Root … Mayfield
Allison Tolman … Mayfield saloon girl
Rutger Hauer … The Commodore
Carol Kane … Mrs. Sisters
Patrice Coosonneau … Blount

Runtime: 122 min.

Rebecca Root as Mayfield, under durress for sending her men after the Sisters brothers in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Carol Kane as Mrs. Sisters, surprised to see her long-lost sons return home in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Memorable lines:

Charlie: “You’re not scared to reproduce yourself?”
Eli gives Charlie a questioning look.
Charlie: “You do realize that our father was stark raving mad, and we got his foul blood in our veins?”
Eli: “Our father drank, Charlie.”
Charlie: “Touchee. That was his gift to us: our blood. That’s why we’re good at what we do.”

Hermann Kermit Warm: “This is the great challenge that all prospectors face. How do I get at what’s just beneath my feet? There’s only two solutions, of course: hard labor and good luck. I’ve been working on a third solution for many years. One that is simpler, faster, more certain. And I think today, I found it… You don’t believe me.”
John Morris: “No offense, Warm. Frankly, I’m having a hard time.”
Hermann Kermit Warm: “You know it’s funny, people usually don’t believe me. And then when they do, they want to kill me.”

Hermann Kermit Warm: “This world is an abomination. It’s an abomination.”

John Morris: “I’m 35 years old, and my life is like an empy cylinder.”

Charlie Sister: “God damned, this place is Bablyon … We can kill anyone we want here.”

Eli Sister: “You’ve never thought about stopping?”
Charlie Sister: “And do what?”

Eli Sister; “Hey, have you noticed how long it’s been since anyone’s tried to kill us?”
Charlie Sister: “Yeah, three or four days.”
Eli: “Don’t you find that strange?”

John C. Reilly as Eli and Joaquin Phoenix as Charlie Sisters, embroiled in another gun battle in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Joaquin Phoenix as Charlie Sisters and John C. Reilly as Eli find themselves all tied up in The Sisters Brothers (2018)

John C. Reilly as Eli Sisters waits while his brother does business with The Commodore in The Sisters Brothers

Joaquin Phoenix as Charlie Sisters, blaming Eli for their delayed arrival in Mayfield in The Sisters Brothers (2018)