The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMovie reviews

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best | Movie review
1 July 2012
Joey Godman
Avatar
Joey Godman
1 July 2012

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best is the directorial and writing debut of Ryan O’Nan who also stars in this low-budget road movie. The plot follows Alex (O’Nan) as he tries to find meaning in his life after losing his job, band and girlfriend. He teams up with an unhinged “musical revolutionary” called Jim (Michel Weston) and tours across the country playing a series of bizarre gigs. On the way they meet the impossibly beautiful Cassidy (Arielle Kebbel) who tags along for the ride.

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best will likely divide audiences sharply. If one buys into the music and strangeness of the film it is sure to please. However, if quirky or “off beat” films send shivers down your spine, avoid this film like the plague. The film describes the music that the Brooklyn Brothers make as songs that a six-year-old David Bowie may have written or “The Shins-meets-Sesame Street” kind of songs. The music is very sweet and is certain to help the film find a niche audience.          

The film’s comedic matter is a bit of a mess but is generally good. There are jokes about beating up children with learning disabilities mixed in with mumble-core comedy. The best laughs come from the dialogue between the main characters and all of the actors seem to know their craft. The comedic timing and physicality of the performances is very strong with all of the lead characters. The only times the comedy falls a little flat is when some of the minor supporting characters overplay the role which is most notable in the frat house scenes.

It’s an incredibly strong debut from O’Nan, the script doesn’t suffer from any plot holes, the speech is fluid and the story steers away from mawkishness when the temptation was there. It’s a pleasant surprise that the film doesn’t try to wrap everything up neatly at the end, Alex has more of self-realisation than a major shift, in the way he lives his life. The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best does have a great deal in common with numerous other road movies but that is a constraint of the genre. The usual problems beset the band: running out of money, running out of petrol and the “falling out”. A strong script, good acting and genuinely good music manage to raise the movie above what could have been a failed vanity project.

★★★★★

Joey Godman

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best is released in select cinemas on 20th July 2012.

Watch the trailer for The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

The Road Dance

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Rhino

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

The Innocents

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Benediction

★★★★★
Lauren Devine
Read More

This Much I Know to Be True

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Vortex

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Everything Everywhere All at Once

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Father Stu

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • When You Finish Saving the World
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Return to Seoul
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Marcel!
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • More than Ever (Plus que Jamais)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Enys Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • More than Ever (Plus que Jamais)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic at the British Museum
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Eo (Hi-Han)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Original recipe of the week: Get your Wimbledon smoothie on – strawberries and cream
Ronnie Wood & Friends at the Hammersmith Apollo | Live review