Plot
Adam Buckley finds himself in the middle of a convenience store robbery during his last night as a pledge for a college fraternity...
Release Year: 2010
Rating: 6.1/10 (1,763 voted)
Critic's Score: 52/100
Director:
Will Canon
Stars: Trevor Morgan, Lou Taylor Pucci, Arlen Escarpeta
Storyline Adam Buckley finds himself in the middle of a convenience store robbery during his last night as a pledge for a college fraternity. When the initiation ritual goes horribly wrong, and every move proves disastrous, Adam is forced to confront a new challenge all together, and he has to take a stand.
Writers: Will Canon, Doug Simon
Cast: Trevor Morgan
-
Adam Buckley
Jon Foster
-
Frank
Lou Taylor Pucci
-
Kevin
Arlen Escarpeta
-
Mike
Jesse Steccato
-
Bean
Jenny Shakeshaft
-
Emily
(as Jennifer Sipes)
Luke Sexton
-
Graham
Chad Halbrook
-
Jackson
Preston Vanderslice
-
Scott
Tyler Corie
-
Curtis
Evan Gamble
-
Tyler
Katherine VanderLinden
-
Janet
Jeff Gibbs
-
Officer Jennings
Jack O'Donnell
-
Dr. Meyers
Meyer DeLeeuw
-
Collin
Taglines:
Every Night Was a Party. One Night Went Too Far.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Frank:
Alright, like I said before, I wouldn't make you pussies do anything I wouldn't do first.
User Review
A litmus test for your ability to connect with today's college experience.
Rating: 9/10
The film "Brotherhood" is actually a litmus test for your ability to
connect with today's college experience. If you are in touch with
today's typical college fraternity/sorority lifestyle, you will likely
think this film is excellent. If you are mostly out of touch, you will
not likely connect to this film. Originally I rated this film 8 out of
ten, but I changed it to 9 out of 10, simply because of the
performances given by this film's rising stars, but I will get into
that later.
If you consider yourself "middle of the road" when it comes to
understanding college social scenes, see how you feel about this movie
- it may help you decide how well you understand college life today, if
you were asked this same question.
From what I can tell, the story is indeed fictional but based on real
experiences and 'folk lore' or 'urban legends' of college life.
Although I am not going to go into specific plot details, it is
generally well-crafted and fun to watch.
From my previous movie reviews, I have a keen eye for performance. What
stood out to me was the girl that came looking for her 'personal
belongings' halfway through the story. At first glance, I was sure I
had seen her in other movies, but I couldn't recall where. My trusty
IMDb iphone app identified her to be Jennifer Sipes. This actress made
the movie for me. If you do get a chance to see this film in theaters,
her performance alone is worth the price of admission. There is
something that really shines bright with her. Lou Taylor Pucci also
does a very very good job. I was lucky enough to see "The Music Never
Stopped" at Sundance and I think his performance in Brotherhood is at
the same level. Jon Foster comes through as well, although his strength
as an actor did not shine as bright as Jennifer Sipes and Lou Taylor
Pucci. I don't blame Jon Foster, this is a small indie film, and he
sometimes stumbles a little with delivery, slightly depreciating his
performance, but I suspect this was due to a very compacted shooting
schedule. I eagerly anticipate Jon's future performances in big budget
studio films, because I think with a proper shooting schedule, he will
really take off. Trevor Morgan to me was just OK. Unfortunately I could
see him 'acting' at certain points. If you see this film on the big
screen, you will see Pucci dominate Morgan in scenes that the two are
in (from a purely acting perspective). Once again, I think Trevor
Morgan had a tough job in this film, thus making it more difficult to
perform with a short shooting cycle. Nonetheless, he is responsible for
his screen presence, and he didn't meet my expectations. The scenes
that Trevor Morgan and Arlen Escarpeta square off are the slowest of
the film, and in my opinion, should be left out. It simply doesn't work
as intended.
In summary, I would recommend this film. It rides along at a fast pace,
comparable to a typical 'night-gone-wrong' thriller. Overall
performances are good, but look for Lou Taylor Pucci and even more so
Jennifer Sipes - Two actors with a very bright future. Jon Foster is
close behind, and also has a big career ahead of him. I will give fair
warning that you may find this film really, really, irritating if you
are not connected to college life today, but if you are, you will
associate well to the language, the pranks/initiations, and the race
relations, all realistic and decently put together. What really
separates this film from other indies in this genre is the acting. If
for nothing else, see it for some inspiring performances by Hollywood's
future stars.
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