Half Brothers has a lot going for it. There are some genuinely funny scenes, a lot of heart, some fairly well fleshed out characters, and a really compelling story. I was expecting a poorly written, directed, and acted movie based on the DVD info. Instead, I found that it was a solid, entertaining, heartwarming movie with a strong story.
But, Houston, we have a problem.
The movie's political message is told in a ham fisted, ugly way. In Half Brothers, 95% of the Americans are depicted as fat, lazy, spoiled, entitled, ignorant, arrogant, stupid, mean, obnoxious, racist, or any combination thereof. Americans are painted in a VERY negative light in this movie. In Half Brothers it's: Americans = Bad, lazy, obnoxious, arrogant, selish, hostile people, Mexicans = Good, hard working, caring, selfless people. The writers club you over the head with their point of view (over and over again), and it really hurts the movie.
There is no balance.
There are only a couple decent Americans depicted in the movie, and one of them is the Half Brother who is still kind of lazy and a bit of a wacky, scatterbrained loser.
On the other hand, almost every single Mexican character is noble and honorable.
Don't get me wrong, there are, unfortunately, far too many Americans that fit the narrative of the movie, and there are plenty of Mexicans who fit the narrative on that side as well. The point of view or narrative of the movie isn't completely inaccurate. It's just not balanced and has a serious Anti-American slant.
And that takes away from what is otherwise a really, really good movie. Half Brothers could have been a movie worthy of a 7 or 8 rating if not for the ugly, hate filled political slant the writers brought to the table. It's a shame that they couldn't find a way to balance things out a little bit, because they had an interesting story to tell (the story absolutely IS interesting, captivating, even), and they told that story in an entertaining way. They just also threw in some ugly politics that is insulting to a lot of people.
But, Houston, we have a problem.
The movie's political message is told in a ham fisted, ugly way. In Half Brothers, 95% of the Americans are depicted as fat, lazy, spoiled, entitled, ignorant, arrogant, stupid, mean, obnoxious, racist, or any combination thereof. Americans are painted in a VERY negative light in this movie. In Half Brothers it's: Americans = Bad, lazy, obnoxious, arrogant, selish, hostile people, Mexicans = Good, hard working, caring, selfless people. The writers club you over the head with their point of view (over and over again), and it really hurts the movie.
There is no balance.
There are only a couple decent Americans depicted in the movie, and one of them is the Half Brother who is still kind of lazy and a bit of a wacky, scatterbrained loser.
On the other hand, almost every single Mexican character is noble and honorable.
Don't get me wrong, there are, unfortunately, far too many Americans that fit the narrative of the movie, and there are plenty of Mexicans who fit the narrative on that side as well. The point of view or narrative of the movie isn't completely inaccurate. It's just not balanced and has a serious Anti-American slant.
And that takes away from what is otherwise a really, really good movie. Half Brothers could have been a movie worthy of a 7 or 8 rating if not for the ugly, hate filled political slant the writers brought to the table. It's a shame that they couldn't find a way to balance things out a little bit, because they had an interesting story to tell (the story absolutely IS interesting, captivating, even), and they told that story in an entertaining way. They just also threw in some ugly politics that is insulting to a lot of people.