GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Ghoulumbe Better than most people think

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

earl687 TV simply doesn't get much better than this. The writing is superb, and the actors are all spot on. I feel the lighting/cinematography could be better, but i'm sure they had budget issues. They have gone for a realistic feel in the show, and have executed it superbly. All aspects of the show from the political arenas to the gangster scenes, feel as if you are really there. It does such an effective job of really pulling you into these worlds they have brilliantly created. The first season is just absolutely unmissable. I rank this slightly below the best stuff on TV, like Boardwalk Empire and Dexter, yet it outdoes even those shows in certain respects. Don't miss it, and enjoy!

FSUKXAZ This is without a doubt, the best show on TV or cable. It is about politics and the mafia in Rhode Island. It's been compared to an Irish version of the Sopranos. I love the Sopranos, but Brotherhood is really nothing like it. I love Brother hood even more than the Sopranos. The main character is a rising politician in Rhode Island. His brother who disappeared for a number of years is a mafiaso type. They have a love/hate relationship. Anyways, the writing for this show is excellent. Family is a big portion of the show and its characters are all strange and unique. Because it's on pay cable there is profanity and nudity which makes it all the more realistic. It's on Showtimw. I got Showtime for Brotherhood, Californication, & movies. Can you believe they may be canceling this show? I will cancel my Showtime subscription if this is so. I bought Season 1 & 2 on DVD and cannot wait for Season 3 to come out.

scrapmetal7 Please note: The following comment refers to seasons 1 and 2 only.BROTHERHOOD is a gangster drama, but it is much more than that. From almost the very beginning, this show turned the expected gangster show archetypes upside down, delivering a story far more substantive then other offerings of this type. All of the actors involved give noteworthy performances.The engines that drive this story are loss and frustration, reflective of the conditions in today's America, where economic depression and disappointment in failing institutions has become common place. The show's fearful, desperate heart is well reflected by it's bleak, overcast, dusty setting. Although comparisons to HBO's THE SOPRANOS are inevitable, BROTHERHOOD faces a hopelessness and vulnerability that David Chase never reached. Tony Soprano may have had familiar anxieties and fears, but at the end of the day he was still rolling in money and beautiful women, always went home to his mansion, and always beat the feds at their own game. The characters of BROTHERHOOD are not nearly so well insulated. Every single character on the show has to fight for every inch of ground and they usually end up losing anyway.The premise of the prodigal gangster returning to his east coast turf and reclaiming what's his, settling old scores and winning back his girlfriend has been done to death. In the BROTHERHOOD series season one premiere, it seems we are presented with exactly this story. Jason Isaac's Michael Caffee returns to his home neighborhood after seven years, and the whole town reacts as if the angel of death has come to smite them. The cops have an emergency meeting where they refer to him as "Three-Part Mike"(judge, jury, and executioner). Michael immediately springs into action, cutting off a rival's ear and reclaiming all of his criminal enterprises in one fell swoop.By the second episode, however, it becomes clear that this is something different. Michael's money is all fake, and outdated. Clerks at the store can spot it as counterfeit. Instead of charging his way to the top and running the neighborhood, he has to sell his services to the current mob boss, the revolting and hideous Freddie Cork, who constantly threatens his life and undermines everything he tries to do. The girl he cut off Moe's ear to impress, rather than swoon for him in adoring devotion, derides him for being old and ridicules him for living with his mother. No one mentions the "Three-Part Mike" title again.And, of course Michael is not the only one with problems. Tommy, his brother, the neighborhood's representative at city hall, works day and night trying to use his influence to help "The Hill", but more often than not finds every deal he makes broken in the service of greater interests, even as his wife is carrying on a ridiculous affair with a poor, lovestruck mope and the house he can barely pay for is falling apart. And it is not just the main characters who struggle in such futility; their trials are reflected in the city at large as unemployment grows and opportunities disappear, substance abuse spreads among the children, and city planning threatens to turn the neighborhood into parking lots and highway spurs.The cast is excellent. Every review on this board makes special mention of Jason Isaacs as Michael, and deservedly so, but every single performance shines, so just read the cast list. Every character is equally interesting as they struggle to find one last shred of dignity or life affirming experience. A lot of the comments say that there are no likable characters; I feel that to be an over-simplified perspective. It is true that there are no saints or Mary Sues, but every character (except Freddie Cork and Moe Reilley) are a mix of good intentions and compromised values. While every character commits dishonorable acts, these acts rarely define them. Rather, they shed light on their motivations and goals, which we can normally empathize with.Knowing that this story takes some inspiration from the Bulger Brothers and Boston's Winter Hill gang, one might expect to see Michael on a reign of terror with the city in his fist, and Tommy as a crusading politician with the state's fate in his hands. What we have here is the background of all of that, a slow-burning genesis chapter where we see how such men find their way from square one. This is a wrenching, heart breaking, and fascinating study of family ties, shattered hopes and diminishing returns.

cafesmitty I just finished watching the first 2 episodes of Brotherhood. First, let me say their is some fine acting and some pretty decent script writing but if you can't get me within the first episode and not even the first 2 episodes then their is something just a bit off and that is what I get from Brotherhoood. Something that is a bit off. After giving it some thought, I realize what it is. Politics. I find stories about underhanded politicians uninteresting in a season. It its what we image real politics are like. The back alley deals, everyone seemingly owing everyone and in the end the family suffers as well as the public.In the first episode, the prodigy brother returns and he is an old school Irish mafia type of guy. The crook with a heart of gold (of sorts). He is brutal but honest. He answers to no one and lives his life accordingly. Then you have his brother, the state representative who, on the outside, looks like the family guy. He means well, he is trying to do good, but he has to make these deals in order to get what he wants and not all are good. Its kinda like the road to hell is paved with good intentions sort of thing.Other characters of note is Annabelle Gish, the politician's wife. Who is bored with her life, cheats and smoke pots while putting on the front of a loyal wife. (Thats really all the spoiler you are going to get). Annabelle Gish's character seems like a total waste and its a cookie cutter character meaning its been done a thousand time before. Then you got the mother, who clearly favors one son (the thug) over the other (the politician).But in the end, this show seems like it arrived to late to the party. The Sopranos, the Wire, even the Corner had already covered this stuff. NBC tried it with the Black Donnelly's and it didn't find an audience either. I don't understand why Showtime is trying to do a cheap version of the Sopranos, when they already have excellent original programs like Weeds, Californication and my favorite, Dexter. Brotherhood just doesn't offer anything new or different in the whole Irish mob/politician thing. All this show really is doing is showing how the Irish are set in their ways and do we really need that stereotype? I give it a 6 out of 10 for the fine acting, the good writing and directing, but it missing out getting a higher mark because the subject matter have been done to death.