Monday Movie Meme - Brotherly Love

This week's Monday Movie Meme from The Bumbles, delivered slightly later than usual (sorry...moving in slow motion today) is all about brothers on the silver screen. Now I don't have any brothers, but I have a few friends that I've adopted as brothers, so I know that things are not always harmonious with them. In the movies, the first examples that come to mind are brothers that are a bit homicidal towards each other, steal each other's woman, and wreak general havoc with each other's lives. So I've challenged myself to come up with some non-dysfunctional brotherly relationships as well:

Brothers in Arms

1. Rain Man - Perhaps Charlie Babbitt had ulterior motives in taking his savant brother Raymond on a gambling road trip, but he ultimately learns some lessons in brotherly love. God bless his strange little heart.

2. The Outsiders - I actually JUST watched this as part of a Read the Book/See the Movie event, and enjoyed both experiences. The movie is crammed full of young, soon-to-be-famous actors and actresses, and is the perfect example of brothers watching out for each other's best interests.

3. The Blues Brothers - You can't not love a movie about a couple of brothers trying to raise money to save a children's home! This one is such a classic, and Belushi's lasting legacy.

4. The Straight Story - I need to mention this movie once or twice a year, as it is precious. An old man, who can no longer drive a car, loads up his riding mower and drives across several states in the Mid-West in order to visit his brother and resolve a decades-long feud. Along the way, he meets people from all walks of life and leaves a lasting impression on them. Sort of a non-traditional road trip film, if you will.



Brothers Gone Bad

1. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - These two brothers first conspire to take out their parents for financial gain, then turn on each other. Directed by the great Sidney Lumet, and stuffed full of great actors, such as Marisa Tomei, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Ethan Hawke, this one is worth watching if you can handle familial ugliness and greed at its worst.

2. Godfather I and II - The Corleone brothers should be at the top of every bad brother list I think. I would have to be strung up by movie lovers everywhere if I didn't mention it. I mean, poor Fredo! He was always misunderstood.

3. Trading Places - Thought I'd throw in some comedic relief here. This movie makes me laugh, no matter how many times I watch it. I have it loaded permanently on my iPod whenever I need a pick-me-up. It is hard to pick which acting team is more fun to watch...Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd, or the fuss-budget Duke brothers working their evil scheme.

4. A Simple Plan - This movie might be off most people's radar, but is in the same class as #1 on my list - just good, old-fashioned, dark and juicy greed. Two brothers and a friend find a large sum of money in a plane that crashed near their house. The pilot is dead, so nobody will know right? They just have hide the money and sit tight. But nothing is ever quite that simple. This movie is dark, dark, dark.

There are millions more brothers movies. Which are your favorites?