“The Sisters Brothers”: Film Thoroughly Disappointing

The Sisters Brothers sounds like the title of a cr-a-a-azy comedy from about 1998 starring Adam Sandler as each of two gender-dysphoric siblings. Somehow, the movie is even worse than that. Get this: Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are brothers. But they’re also Sisters — Sisters is their surname. It’s a joke that gets repeated several times in the course of this would-be revisionist Western. (Opening line: “Hey! This is the Sisters Brothers!” I hope you weren’t drinking milk when you read that. Hilarity itself, no?)

Surely there must be more here, right? No, there really isn’t. Strained wordplay and occasional bits of buffoonery are what pass for the comedy in a dismal buddy movie with occasional bursts of gory violence that seems to be aiming for the jocular feel of a rollicking, unpredictable Quentin Tarantino trip. Instead it’s a pointless plod, not smart enough to be at home in art-house cinemas but way too dull for the multiplex. Not until an hour into the film do we even find out what the MacGuffin is.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

The Sisters Brothers sounds like the title of a cr-a-a-azy comedy from about 1998 starring Adam Sandler as each of two gender-dysphoric siblings. Somehow, the movie is even worse than that. Get this: Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are brothers. But they’re also Sisters — Sisters is their surname. It’s a joke that gets repeated several times in the course of this would-be revisionist Western. (Opening line: “Hey! This is the Sisters Brothers!” I hope you weren’t drinking milk when you read that. Hilarity itself, no?)

Surely there must be more here, right? No, there really isn’t. Strained wordplay and occasional bits of buffoonery are what pass for the comedy in a dismal buddy movie with occasional bursts of gory violence that seems to be aiming for the jocular feel of a rollicking, unpredictable Quentin Tarantino trip. Instead it’s a pointless plod, not smart enough to be at home in art-house cinemas but way too dull for the multiplex. Not until an hour into the film do we even find out what the MacGuffin is.