Review: "The Sisters Brothers" is One of the Smartest, Funnest Takes on the Western in Some Time

John C. Reilley in The Sisters Brothers

The world of director Jacques Audiard's English-language debut The Sisters Brothers is one that's immediately disorienting. In the opening scene, brother Eli Sister (John C. Reilley) proudly declares his intention to open fire. The only issue is that, somewhere in the middle of night, it's impossible to see anything. By the end, their robbery is foiled by foolish decisions that leaves a barn on fire and the proud declaration as the title card appears that Eli and Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) have messed up another mission. This mismatched sibling story is a tale of screw-ups amid a reputation for being two of the deadliest shooters in the west (Oregon and Northern California to be precise), which is what sends them on a bounty hunter mission. However, the tale is far more than a farcical tale. The further that things go, the more it blends humor with drama in effective ways that establish Audiard's lofty new vision of what a western can be. It may not always be successful, but it's an astounding achievement nonetheless.

At the heart of The Sisters Brothers is two pairs: Eli and Charlie, and the two men that they're after: a chemist named Hermann Warm (Riz Ahmed) and criminal John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal). Through the various plateaus and dangerous mountains, the brothers ride against harrowing circumstances to find these two men, eager to find shortcuts to the gold rush in the mid-1800's. There's only a few issues: Charlie is a nasty drunk who'll fire at anyone, and there's a sense that Eli is unstable, whose self-done haircut is so brutalized that his head looks like a wandering trail of pain. They are in some ways forced into this partnership under tragic circumstances and the sense that they have no other family. They need the money, if just to get by for a little longer. However, they're antagonistic, constantly quibbling over trivial ideas as one enters a spasm of indulgent and destructive behavior. Luckily, Phoenix and Reilley are veteran actors at this point, able to make the pain of brotherhood into a charming formula that is often funny, but inherently sweet by the end.

While the film was sold as a ribald comedy with big pop numbers in the soundtrack, the actual film is a bit more nuanced and has a mentality not unlike a 21st century version of Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's a tale of greed, of finding ways to mine gold at a more efficient rate while also attempting to hunt fellow men for personal profit. What good does it all do? That is the heart of what develops in the film's second act, as John admires the newly constructed cities that are also ran by corrupt business people. It's a world that is on the verge of having some civility but, much like Eli, they're prone to shoot something if they don't get their way. By the time that the story shifts almost exclusively to the greed of the gold rush in the third act, the film has established a world of disheveled bodies all fighting over something futile. It may cause the film to emphasize drama over comedy at points in staggering ways, but as a whole it presents a harrowing vision of what society can be, and what it inevitably is.

Coming off of his Palme d'Or winning film Dheepan, Audiard's shift to American cinema follows in the footsteps of all great world cinema voices. His most noticeable technique shines in his ability to create a California and Oregon that isn't often seen on film. The lighting is exclusively natural, with many night scenes lit by merely a fireplace or overhead moon. The cinematography is breathtaking as he recalls icons like John Ford and Howard Hawks while infusing something new and subversive in a quirky Alexandre Desplat score. Even the imagery, which includes practical effects for use of animals and bugs (yes, bugs) has an innovative touch that rattles the audience with awe and humor. Still, it does feel like Audiard's biggest draw to the story is its subtext about anti-capitalism; a theme uncommon in American contributions to the genre. It's here that he brings his experimental French perspective in meaningful ways. Mind you, this isn't an experimental western in the abstract sense. It's more meditative on how a story can be comic and tragic within the same context, often relying on excellent dark humor to carry the audience along.

It also helps that the central four performances are always fun to watch. Phoenix and Reilley in particular are a hoot as they do menial tasks such as raid people's houses. The fact that both are on edge allows a simple head popping through window to become a potential life risk. They're unnerved, and yet they have a chemistry that gets to the heart of why they're still together - and alive. It's a relationship that is so built on opposing traits that it comes back around into complimenting each other. Likewise, Gyllenhaal and Ahmed bring a nice chemistry to their more subdued performances, capturing more of a drama from a budding partnership that is earnest. Gyllenhaal, who has unfortunately been known more for his wildly distracting method acting in recent years, does a great job at being no more than a quiet and sincere man with a simple dream. It's the one that all Americans of the mid-1800's had. They wanted gold and profit. It's hard not to sympathize with any of these performances, which is odd given that they start off opposing each other and don't meet for a significant amount of running time. 

The film isn't without some frustrations. As funny as the film is and how profound its third act becomes, it still lags in places that require quiet thought. For as strong as the performances are, the shift from the comic introductory portion to the more symbolic drama is a bit jarring at first. Still, the film as a whole is one of the more successful westerns of the year. It presents a vision of the genre that is wholly successful at being about more than shoot 'em ups and saving the town from bad guys. In fact, it's one of the more innovative and engaging to come out in some time. While the third act gets a tad grim, the whole experience tends to favor heartwarming bonding of relationships formed throughout the film, suggesting that humanity is greater than the tensions caused by greed. Reilley and Phoenix are great together and, if they were anything like Reilley and Will Ferrell, deserve to have a few more films together. They have such engaging chemistry and are almost the sole reason to give this film a chance. Luckily, Audiard's no slouch at tackling one of the most American genres of its kind and makes something powerful and unique. Just don't go to sleep with your mouth open in the forest (trust me).