Brotherhood

This movie had a tightly focused story it told economically keeping the audience focused and attentive. Its a good old style movie where the story is king told like a modern movie where the audiences attention span is respected. Natural hyped performances kept the movie's and audience's heart pumping. I've read in the comments that some people didn't find the characters believable. Compared to what. your average Hollywood movie is mostly unbelievable, these guys were young at time stupid and way out of their depth, and nothing goes as planned. I can believe that easily. I wish I could directly support the production team who made this. they obviously put there all into it and it shows, but in a very skilled way, well shot and edited there is nothing unprofessional about this, its a top end movie from an indie outfit and they deserve kudos for that. Well done team. I wish your movie was getting a wide release.

This is a very nicely done movie, which is very engaging, fast and interesting. It keeps you watching throughout the movie. While some things are predictable , many are not. I don't understand how come the rating is just around 6. It's much better than most movies you see nowadays. It's about a bunch of kids going through the induction process to get into a frat. The movie begins with one prank, which goes way off. It gets them into trouble ,and more trouble and more trouble. The best part about this movie is the way it ends. I had absolutely no idea that this is what was going to happen ! Do watch it , it's a good movie.

As a depiction of the absurdity of fraternity life and the misguided "brotherhood" that often dominates the thinking of fraternity members, this film paints a grim picture of the multiple ways that hazing can go wrong. What begins as an absolutely ridiculous prank leads to an unlikely series of poor judgments and unfortunate events—arrogance and racism seem to be the principles that guide the fraternity members' sense of "brotherhood." One of the brothers (whose name I couldn't tell you, since the characters are all so flat and indistinct) actually has a sense of morality and fights his peers in an effort to do the right thing, but he is—of course—over-ruled. The story is mildly engaging, and numerous conflicts develop throughout the course of the film, but the distinguishing features of this film are desperation and an overabundance of fraternity guys shouting at each other in anger and fear. A more experienced and skilled screenwriter could have turned this raw story into something quite good.

I think this is the greatest motion picture of 2010. Will Canon (writer/director) is the brains behind this film. Let me also say that when I first tried to watch it, I shut it off after two minutes. Now, a few weeks later, I finished it. I admire it. ...... ...On another note, I would like to explain my disapproval that IMDb requires a review to be "lengthy." 1. My first reason is because, I do not want to spend all day on two reviews. 2. Second, I like to get a large amount of reviews and opinions. 3. Third, If the first review is 8 pages long and 5 stars. I will not watch it. Now, what if the next 100 reviews are all 10 stars? Do you see why I am complaining? 4. Fourth, Netflix knows better. Netflix allows you to drop a one line review. 5. Fifth, I am not a man that likes to just sit here talking and talking about a movie. I also like to give the next guy time to write a review. I also expect the same from other reviewers. 6. Sixth, It is much easier for me to go through reviews reading efficiently, when they are not lengthy. 7. Seventh, to give an example: When you are watching an infomercial, and they keep giving you prices, but they do not give you the real price until the end. Just give me the price! 8. Just tell me if you liked it or not!

I was in a fraternity in college, so I enjoy watching movies about Greek life. Unfortunately, they all tend to be dumb slasher movies or cheesy sex comedies. I saw the description for Brotherhood and decided to watch it. From the beginning scene, I was sucked in. I won't go into plot details, but the story keeps you guessing and is engrossing. The acting from the unknown cast is excellent was well- Jon Foster is especially good as the head of the fraternity. And the twist at the end of the film was a great touch. The nice thing about the twist is that it's not easy to predict, but also did not feel forced. I wouldn't necessarily call this a movie about Greek life, but it's a terrific indie drama/thriller set in the world of fraternities.

Viewed at the Festival de Cannes 2010 The fraternity (and sorority) system is something very peculiar to US colleges, but thanks to films such as Animal House people in other countries now have a very good idea how things work: all beer, parties and panty raids right? Not quite! Because Brotherhood takes the concept of initiation rites and works it into a very taut thriller about power and abuse and how far would you be willing to go to protect your fellows as opposed to doing the right thing. Not wishing to give anything away (I don't write spoilers, even intentionally), what starts out as a prank, robbing a convenience store, spirals out of control as every attempt to put right the wrong just makes things worse. Pretty soon, to misquote Macbeth, those involved are now so deep in the brown and red stuff that turning back is no longer an option. The kicker at the end, by the way, is excellent.

How far would you go to join a frat? After a initiation prank goes wrong and a pledge gets shot they are worried that he will end up in jail. A simple job of trying to cover up the prank ends up snowballing into something that could ruin the lives of all involved. I was extremely surprised by this movie. I immediately got sucked in and was engrossed the entire time. It begins with a van of pledges staging robberies until one gets shot. The night gets progressively worse as they try to fix more and more problems that occur. Talking about this too much I will end up giving something away, and this is a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat through most of it. Every once is a while a movie comes along that surprises you so much that you can't stop talking about it to others and this is one of those movies. Watch this movie, you won't be disappointed. I give it a B+. Would I watch again? - Yes, I think I would. *Also try - Sorority Row & Twelve

The college experience of entering a fraternity and what you need to do to be in one is the basis of "Brotherhood", a thriller about a disastrous experience of a group of guys who made a mess after initiating new members for a fraternity. They decide to rob a convenient store but end up entered in the wrong store and it's all downhill from here for this guys who'll try to do anything to not go to jail and save a wounded friend (Lou Taylor Pucci in the best performance of a wounded guy that I ever seen) shot by the guy behind the counter. Jon Foster and Trevor Morgan play the main characters in the film, and the ones who clash against each other to decide what's best for them while trying to get out of this situation; one is very heated about everything, and the other is a little bit naive but with some smartness when needed. And there's also the other brothers who are there to disturb, interrupt their plans and other people who get involved in the mess, wanting or not. A robbery, the kidnapped cashier, a car accident, angered girls, and of course the wounded fella, and the police, who might show up at any time in the fraternity house are the major problems by this group who simply wanted to make a prank and join new members. Fast and with thrills here and there, "Brotherhood" is an okay film, very easy to follow but with some accidents here and there that might become annoying if you're clever enough to find solutions where the writers and the characters didn't found. I was always one step ahead of the characters in finding solutions where they opted for the worst and unthinkable one, for instance, like the one where they decide to return the stolen money to the store, pretending that the robbery never happened, when we know and their policeman friend knew that a robbery happened and the cashier disappeared. The whole part of returning the money was bad, very annoying and the way turned out the story (for this characters) could've ended worse than they thought. I can't deny that there's excitement, many surprises, a few plot twists and things to cheer. The whole battle between Foster and Morgan as the strong guy versus the weak and intelligent guy was very clever, a cliché that was well developed and it works. Since being in a college here is a different experience than it is in the U.S. this film will pass unnoticed here. By that I mean that this whole fraternity thing doesn't exist (and if it does it is more invisible than anything), people go to college and keep locked up in their own little worlds, keeping a distance from everything, and throwing their intelligence to others like vanity or an excuse to be pretentious kinds, they don't care about real friendship and things like that. And I think this film would proof, even if in a bad way, that there are bonds that are made to hold still, and friendship matters. I enjoyed the film, enjoyed the good performances of the cast, and it saved my week in a way after some overrated art films that haven't helped me with anything. If you need to escape from things, just for a hour and half yet have some ethical thoughts, figure out what would you do in a situation like the one presented in "Brotherhood" go see this film right away. 9/10

So, with limited preparation (I had no idea what the film was about) I set about this American fraternity thriller. And, I have to say, it wasn't bad at all. The opening scenes are in the back of a van where three teenagers are being yelled at by one of their peers who then charges off, gun in hand, claiming he is going to rob a convenience store. He reappears seconds later to tell the trio they have to follow suit if they are to be accepted into a sought-after university fraternity. It quickly transpires that the initiation ceremony is a fake and, before each individual gets to the door of their respective stores, they are stopped by a fellow frat man who gives them the cash they have been instructed to rob, to make it look as if they have been successful. Unfortunately, he is not there when the last of the three , Kevin, (Lou Taylor Pucci) goes off to do his robbery and, therefore, Kevin tries to carry it out. However, things start to unravel pretty quickly. Kevin is shot in the shoulder by the shop assistant who refuses to believe he is not being properly held up until the concept is beaten into him by Kevin's friend Adam (Trevor Morgan) and Frank (Jon Foster), the teenager who had been giving the dummy instructions on the hold-up. Frank, fearing that the police would not understand the hold-up had been a prank, insists that Kevin, despite bleeding heavily is taken back to the frat house and the emergency services are not called. This begins a sequence of dramatic events in which just about everything transpires against a successful outcome for the group. All of the time, Adam is fearing for Kevin's life and is desperately pleading with Frank to take him to hospital. As sparring takes places over the decision, the dynamics of power and peer pressure are put acutely under the microscope of director Will Canon. Canon's movie is low budget but he builds up tension and develops characters well and, in less than 80 minutes, ratchets up considerable tension.

I didn't expect much out of this movie coming into it. It popped up on Netflix one night, and grabbed my attention because it was a "frat movie." I'm not in the Greek system myself, but I have many good friends who are, so the subject is of interest to me (also because they are so often misrepresented in the media, but that's a discussion for another day). I prepared myself for another overblown party movie, and ended up being served something completely different and far more impressive. What I ended up watching (instead of a fluff-piece on partying and sex) was a gripping, well-paced, superbly-acted and well-executed drama. Brotherhood is about more than "frat boys": it is about human motivation and decision making, it is about loyalty, and it shows how just one simple turn of events can change everything you had ever planned or expected. I know the plot description for this sounds cliché and awful. Trust me--I almost didn't watch it myself. But don't pass this one up. It is a truly engrossing ride from start to finish. I really wish this film were more well-known!