The Sisters Brothers (2018)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Sisters Brothers (2018) – J. Audiard

The most immediately noticeable thing about The Sisters Brothers is the cinematography by Benoît Debie (who has worked with Gaspar Noe and Harmony Korine) – each shot seems to include possibly only natural light – patches of sunlight by day and candlelight and other time-period relevant sources by night (although this may be an illusion and not an record-breaking achievement like Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon). Beyond that, there is the powerhouse acting by John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed – no slouches here – with Reilly getting the lion’s share of the run-time and the most well-rounded character.  He’s the older Sisters brother, an outlaw working for the Commodore with his violent younger brother (Phoenix), following tracker John Morris (Gyllenhaal) who is meant to capture chemist Herman Warm (Ahmed) who has devised a formula for making gold nuggets glow in the water for easy picking by prospectors.  The Commodore wants the brothers to torture Ahmed to get the secret formula but clearly Reilly’s character no longer has his heart in this work.  So, it’s a Western set on the Pacific coast, with its adventure moving from Oregon down to San Francisco.  The four men have their own psychological profiles (and goals) which director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) provides time to explore while still keeping the action moving and the Western tropes alive.  It’s a good film, particularly with its final coda (shot miraculously in one continuous take), but somehow it doesn’t achieve maximum elevation.