The Sisters Brothers (2018)

My Review

“The Sisters Brothers” is a quirky western drama about two cowboy brothers searching for gold prospectors in the 1850’s Oregon Territory. This is French director Jacques Audiard’s first film in the English language, and he has done an exceptional job with good production values, excellent storyline, memorable performances, and good writing. Audiard co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Bidegain, adapted from the 2011 western novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt.

John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix have great chemistry as Eli and Charlie Sisters, with more than adequate performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed as the gold prospectors. Support comes from Rebecca Root, Allison Tolman, Carol Kane and Ian Reddington as the Sisters’ parents, and Rutger Hauer as the Commodore. This is one of Hauer’s final film appearances. The very watchable “The Sisters Brothers” was a big box office failure for producer John C. Reilly, Why Not Productions, Annapurna Pictures, and UGC Distribution. It was filmed in Spain and Romania.