Sibling rivalry is nothing new, as the Old Testament’s story of Cain and Abel attests. Back in 1966, director John Huston cast hellraiser Richard Harris as fratricidal bad boy Cain in The Bible: In the Beginning. Years later, Ray Winstone played Cain’s even naughtier descendent Tubal-Cain in Darren Aronofsky’s decidedly odd Noah (2014). 2009 also saw the tale of Cain and Abel recounted more jocularly in Year One (2009), with David Cross and Paul Rudd as the feuding brothers. Of course, the Biblical duo’s argument was settled in a more lethal way than Harry and William’s ‘dog bowl brawl’.
Moving to the 17th century, rivalry between identical royal twins was the theme of Alexandre Dumas’ Man in The Iron Mask section of The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later (1850).
But sometimes, as recent royal events show, real life can be even more dramatic than fiction. If William or Harry are looking for some pertinent viewing, here are ten movies where brotherly forbearance would have been advisable:
The Godfather I & II (1972-1974) – NOW, Amazon Rent/Buy
John Cazale’s middle Corleone brother Fredo is now a byword for stupidity, weakness, and treachery – so much so that former CNN host Chris Cuomo (brother of now-disgraced New York governor Andrew) blew a gasket when compared with the fictional character in 2019. In the film, Fredo is spectacularly useless from the get-go, failing to protect his father Vito, who, in the book, he is said to most closely physically resemble out of the three brothers, and getting slapped around when under the supposedly protective wing of Moe Greene (Alex Rocco) after being sent off to learn the casino business in Las Vegas. He’s also a chronic whiner, can’t hold his drink and (it’s hinted) is riddled with STDs. So when he betrays his brother Michael (Al Pacino), it’s time to say good riddance to bad rubbish. After their mother dies, that is. On the plus side, Fredo appears to have a kind heart underneath it all and seems to genuinely regret his disloyalty to the Family.
Aquaman (2018) – ITVX, Amazon Rent/Buy
The clash between two half-brothers – human/Atlantean Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa then aged 39) and younger pure-blood undersea dweller King Orm (Patrick Wilson, 45) – is at the heart of this hit DC superhero picture. Curry must claim his rightful crown as King of Atlantis, both to recover his heritage and also to turf out Orm, who is preparing to wage war on the surface world. Much like Namor in 2022’s Wakanda Forever. Orm is dethroned and imprisoned, but apparently will team up with Arthur for this year’s ‘buddy movie’ sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Shades of Marvel’s Thor and adopted bro Loki then. By the way, Orm bears no relation to the fondly remembered 1980s children’s series character of the same name, a puppet worm voiced by Richard Briars (The Good Life) in the ITV series Orm and Cheep.
East of Eden (1955) – Amazon Rent/Buy
Elia Kazan filmed John Steinbeck’s then contemporary take on Cain and Abel, East of Eden (1955), with James Dean as rebellious Caleb Trask (Cain) and Richard Davalos playing straight arrow Aron (Abel). Kazan typically overheats the melodrama; so much so the proceedings verge occasionally on the comical. Raymond Massey is especially annoying as pious family patriarch Adam Trask, who, if not a professional killjoy in the picture, is certainly a top-ranking amateur.
Dead Ringers (1988) – ITVX
Many felt Jeremy Irons should have taken the 1989 Best Actor Academy Award (Dustin Hoffman won for Rain Man, discussed later) for his portrayal of identical twin gynaecologists in David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. Elliot and Beverly Mantle experience a joint breakdown when Beverly falls for a patient, the actress Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold). Irons is superb, providing fully rounded characters for the twins, far more impressive than say Tom Hardy’s rather risible work as The Krays in Legend (2015). Cronenberg was inspired by the tragic case of identical twin gynaecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who were found dead in July 1975 at their Manhattan apartment aged 45. Irons won the Oscar a few years later for his over-ripe Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990). Interestingly (or not), the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito comedy Twins was released in the same year as Dead Ringers.
A History of Violence (2005) – Amazon Buy
More Cronenberg on the menu, with the very excellent A History of Violence. There’s no love lost between former gangster Joey Cusack (Viggo Mortensen) and estranged older brother Richie (the late William Hurt), miffed by his sibling’s flight over a decade ago to backwoods Indiana to start a new life under the name of Tom Stall. As this hampered Richie’s smooth progression through the ranks of the Philly Irish Mob, he’s in the mood for payback. What’s the betting he’ll get it?
The Brothers Grimm (2005) – Netflix, Amazon Rent/Buy
Terry Gilliam’s fantasy shows the Grimm brothers as two quite different characters. Older brother Will (Matt Damon) is a cynical womaniser, happy to grift money from ignorant villagers; his sibling Jake (Heath Ledger) is a dreamer with a real belief in folklore tales which they exploit for financial gain. But don’t you just know it, the pair are forced to re-evaluate their relationship when they encounter a genuine malevolent supernatural force in the shape of Monica Bellucci’s evil Mirror Queen. A similar premise was exploited (minus the confidence trickery) in 2013’s Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the titular characters.
Rain Man (1988) – MGM, Amazon Rent/Buy
Although Dustin Hoffman won a Best Actor Academy Award for this portrayal of institutionalised savant syndrome sufferer (not autism, as is mistakenly believed) Raymond ‘Ray’ Babbitt, I’m not the only one who found his performance a trifle contrived. Tom Cruise as his selfish/exploitative brother Charlie offers the better turn, at least in my estimation. The picture as whole appears designed as Oscar bait; in that it certainly succeeded, also winning awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The Power of the Dog (2021) – Netflix
It’s not so much sibling rivalry as seeming total domination of one brother, George (Jesse Plemons), by another, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), in Jane Campion’s award-winning revisionist western. But when the largely passive George brings home his new bride Rose (Plemons’s real life partner Kirsten Dunst) the dynamic changes, especially since she has a teenage son of her own, the outwardly vulnerable Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Although George rarely (if ever) rises to his brother’s baiting, this winds Phil up to even greater acts of nastiness, until he meets his match from an unexpected quarter.
The Brothers Bloom (2008) – STUDIOCANAL PRESENTS, Amazon Rent/Buy
File Rian Johnson’s (Looper) motion picture under ‘too cute for its own good’ as we follow ‘Bloom’ Bloom’s (Adrien Brody) efforts to end his lifelong participation in brother Stephen’s (Mark Ruffalo) elaborate confidence schemes. But, as ever in the movies, Bloom is roped into one final con… Johnson’s film has some nice location work (Prague, Montenegro and Mexico) and a good cast, which also includes Rachel Weisz, Maximilian Schell and the late Robbie Coltrane, but it is all a bit too arch for me. The director improved his fondness for misdirection with Knives Out (2019) and (to a lesser extent) the recent Glass Onion (2022). Ruffalo essayed a similar role in the two Now You See Me movies, while The Brothers Bloom’s narrator, the late Ricky Jay, was a stage magician, writer, lecturer and actor once described as perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) – Disney+, Amazon Rent/Buy
Shrek director Andrew Adamson’s adaptation of the first entry in C.S. Lewis’s barely concealed Christianity-proselytising Narnia fantasy novels features a particularly egregious piece of familial backstabbing. Irritating teenager Eustace (Skandar Keynes) rats out not only his older brother (William Moseley) but also his sisters Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) to the wicked White Witch (Tilda Swinton). For what did the boy peach on his siblings? ‘Sweeties’ offered by the Witch – Turkish Delight, to be precise. Eustace later repents his actions, but to this viewer at least, his treachery left a nasty taste in the mouth. Netflix has bought the rights to C.S. Lewis series of books and ‘creative architect’ Matthew Aldrich (Coco) is working on their planned ‘Narniaverse’. If it’s anything like Amazon’s dire J.R.R. Tolkien travesty The Rings of Power, Lewis will be turning in his grave at warp speed.
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