Brother's Justice (2010) Reviews

• Could have been amazing.

  DirkesDiggler2010-10-29

  I have never disliked Dax Shepherd. His work on Punk'd was funny for what it was, he was great in "Idiocracy" and, from my limited exposure to him on that set, he is a damned nice guy. He has made some bad movies, that isn't in question, but when the checks start being written who among us is really gonna say no? So, knowing that Dax can be quite funny, and reading the synopsis of this film I had decent hopes. This is a mockumentary about Dax trying to launch himself as a martial arts movie star, even though he has no training. We follow him and his producer friend around as they try to get studio interest, attach stars, and get the thing made. The problem is that it isn't that funny. It's funny, but just not very. The problem with making a movie like this is that you have to make it look real while still maintaining comic timing. These two things don't work together easily. This movie is full of overlong scenes, timing that is just slow enough to flatten jokes, and silences that go on too long. These things are a part of this type of film and can work if they are turned into comic beats of their own (look at the work of Chris Guest for how to do this). Sadly they aren't here. What we are left with, instead, is a somewhat funny movie that could have been a VERY funny movie. Dax does have ability, he just needs to take the time to develop it. I wasn't terribly disappointed, because there were some really great moments, fantastic cameos, and truly funny performances, but they aren't enough to get past the flat timing and lifeless direction.

• Uneven

  krachtm2013-01-25

  The plot: A comedian decides to quit making comedies and, instead, become an international martial arts superstar, despite being thoroughly incompetent. There are some funny moments in this movie, but most of them involve the co-stars, rather than the leads. I can see what they were intending, but I'm not really sure that it worked. Much of the movie is meant to be stupid or intentionally bad, which I guess works, but it fails to be funny. The execution just isn't all that great. I think the biggest problem is that they just couldn't find a balance between the self-conscious, ironic, intentionally bad scenes and the funny scenes. It's not horrible, but it's a bit uneven, and there are parts that are a bit slow and boring. It's also got lots of warmed-over Internet memes, like Chuck Norris references, ironic homophobia, ironic homoeroticism, and an ironic appreciation of bad B movies. If you still laugh at Chuck Norris jokes, five years after most of the Internet got tired of them, then this is the movie for you. If you can't imagine living your life without copious amounts of irony, this is the movie for you. If you're a bit tired of all this stuff, then I'd advise you just watch a Christopher Guest mockumentary.

• Really

  devin-752010-12-01

  No really? No seriously, really? this was so stupid I can't even imagine someone paying money to produce this. I saw it (festival) cause i like some of the cast (jon and Bradley), but I never heard of the lead. Then I came here to IMDb to see what else this guy has been in an then... I understood. Employee of the month. Classic comedy there. let's go to prison and the freebie sound like good idea's but... wow. maybe I'm being to harsh, it's just i don't have a lot of time to spend watching movies and it gets to me when they are this bad. sorry for anyone involved in the making of this! I only wrote this to save others. Not to bash your work.

• Saw it. Love it.

  kaliboom2010-11-10

  I saw Brother's Justice at the Paramount theater for the Austin Film Festival and loved it. The film, shot documentary style, follows Dax Shepard as he tries to make the leap from being a comedic actor to becoming an international martial arts action star a'la Chuck Norris. It's an 80 minute, deliciously awkward leap for our delusional hero. As he pitches his idea for his break-out film BROTHER'S JUSTICE to the industry types that surround him, he systematically gets knocked down by his agent, his lawyer, and his A-list connections (very funny cameos by Ashton Kutcher and Jon Favreau). But Dax is a weirdly likable, egomaniacal machine that won't be stopped. With the help of his "stand by your man" producer, Nate Tuck and his unlikely co-star for BROTHER'S JUSTICE, an equally delusional Tom Arnold, we watch Dax go to extreme lengths to make his action star rise. Public appearances go badly...really badly, ribs are cracked, bromances are broken. There are some guffaw-inducing cameos by Bradley Cooper and one of my all time favorite scene-stealers, David Koechner, and Tom Arnold hasn't been this funny or neurotic since True Lies. Overall it feels like the kind of movie that will get funnier with multiple viewings. There are so many quotable one-liners and I can see it having a cult following over time. I really hope it gets a theatrical release. See it if you like: a) funny b) weird c) junk jiggling close-ups in speeding European hot rods d) funny, weird, junk jiggling close-ups in speeding European hot rods

• I actually thought it was quite hilarious

  wamesy0242013-05-28

  I thought it was funny the whole way through,it had many super memorable moments of hilarity. It stuck well to its genre of mockumentary, by being at least close to believable almost the whole time with some pretty far-fetched moments. I love the all star cast,amazing to see so many funny people in one movie working so well together. Dax Shepard's brand of comedy is unique and top notch. It seems that much thought, love, and effort was put into this movie. Its an offbeat comedy with a kind of awkward situational feel, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I loved it. I hope to see more movies with this humor, wit, and direction from Dax in the future.