Every time I go into a Documentary, I wonder if this is going to be THE one, the one I will walk away from and remember for a long time. "Brothers At War" is just that film. It is an intimate portrait of one American family during a turbulent time. Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers Joe and Isaac serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake's exploits as he risks everything, including his life, to tell his brothers' story.
This saga of what one man will endure to show his love for his brothers is as amazing as watching your first child be born. This movie is often humorous, but sometimes it is downright lethal, Brothers At War is the story of one mans remarkable journey, when Jake embeds himself with four combat units in Iraq, we see the soldier's fears and we hear their stories. Many really do believe in the cause, some do it to ensure that their children or nieces and nephews will be able to grow up in a country where freedom is still worth having. Unprecedented access to US and Iraqi combat units take Jake behind the camouflage curtain with secret reconnaissance troops on the Syrian border, into sniper "hide sites" in the Sunni Triangle, and also through machine gun battles with the Iraqi Army.
Ultimately, the film follows his brothers home, where we witness first hand that the separations and life-threatening work, send ripples through the boys parents, siblings, wives, and children. When Jake gets home from his three week tour in Iraq, he doesn't feel any closer to his brother Joe, it's as if nothing has changed, Joe feels that what Jake has done is what needed to be done, but Joe says that three weeks isn't anything like his tour over there, this causes Jake to go back again, this time for several weeks.
BROTHERS AT WAR is a rare look at the bonds and service of our soldiers on the front lines and the profound effects their service has on the loved ones they leave behind. For anyone who has ever served this country, I can only say thank you. I have also served my country and Have been over there, when I was there in 1991 the brutality I saw was nothing compared to what is happening now. The soldiers today should be congratulated on their call to duty, their families should all be proud of their sons and daughters.
I give Brothers At War a 3 and on my avoidance scale a 0, this movie takes you places that you will never be, and never want to be, it takes a select kind of person to risk his life for others, for people he will never meet. The life of a soldier, any soldier is worth getting to know.
Brothers At War is rated R for Language and A Brief War Image
Running time is 1 hr. 50 mins.
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