My Brothers

While it's tempting to say “If you've seen one gently droll Irish dramedy, you've seen them all,” My Brothers does deserve credit for its sensitive handling of death and loss within the context of a gently rambling road trip. Set over Halloween weekend in 1987, the story follows 17-year-old Noel (Timmy Creed) as he takes his younger brothers—11-year-old Paudie (Paul Courtney) and 7-year-old Scwally (TJ Griffin)—on a cross-country trip to replace their dying father's watch. Noel was wearing the watch when it got smashed during a brawl, and for reasons never made dramatically compelling, Noel urgently needs to travel to Ballybunnion, the tiny town where his dad won the watch as an arcade game prize. As the three brothers share the cab of a rickety old bread-delivery van (borrowed without permission from Noel's employer), their travels lead to a variety of episodic encounters designed to strengthen sibling bonds even as the brothers argue, fight, and make funny comments. Unfortunately, director Paul Fraser's My Brothers ultimately comes across as skin-deep (even using overly literal songs to comment on the plot), so what at first seems to be a promising combination of Roddy Doyle and Little Miss Sunshine turns out to be a somewhat amiable but not very memorable “fillum.” Optional. (J. Shannon)