'Brothers' Review: An Amusing, But Underwhelming Reunion
After ushering in a new golden era of television with HBO’s ‘True Detective’, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson finally reunite for Apple TV’s ‘Brothers’. UNfortunately, their highly anticipated new collaboration yields an amusing, but underwhelming series.
‘Brothers’ has Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson playing fictionalized versions of themselves, the two best friends who are re-united when a family conflict springs Harrelson to bring his family along with him to visit McConaughey and his at his home in Texas. However, what starts out as a fun reunion among friends quickly breeds friction, especially as the former discovers that he and and the latter may in fact be actual brothers. The series is based on the rumor that has been circulating for years that the two of them may actually be blood related. However, despite the idea of basing a comedy series on that speculation having considerable potential, the results are enjoyable, but scattershot.
After making for an electric combination in HBO’s hit series ‘True Detective’, seeing the two real life best friends re-unite for another series, especially a comedic one, was filled to the brim with potential. Thankfully, their off camera chemistry bleeds wonderfully into the fictionalized versions of themselves. McConaughey and Harrelson have unsurprisingly terrific chemistry in the series, bouncing off one another effortlessly and making their dynamic consistently entertaining to watch even when it begins to be repetitive. McConaughey plays this type A version of himself exceedingly well, his straight-laced, but free flowing charisma radiating off the screen as per usual as Harrelson plays a type B version of himself, essentially a migratory hippie who doesn’t know where the wind will take him next. Not only do these fictionalized versions of themselves feel appropriate and well-handled, but the two of them are clearly having the time of their lives poking fun at themselves.
When the series leans more heavily into being a surreal comedy, that’s when it works best. Whether it’s McConaughey’s interactions with Texans who quote his lines back to him or having to take a ride from a TMZ reporter to Harrelson being called out for having an expensive home in Malibu after he states he lives in an RV, these are the flourishes that show shades of a much funnier, sharper series. Both McConaughey and Harrelson clearly have no issues with their public personas being poked and prodded, making for some of the funniest scenes and jokes during the course of the show’s lean eight episodes.
The show also works when it leans into the warm, prickly and confrontational relationship between Harrelson and McConaughey. In each episode, it’s easy to see why the two have gravitated toward one another as friends, the yin and yang pull between them palpable with every exchange and nuanced moment. When matters get confrontational, the two of them shine tremendously. Whether it’s having it out after Harrelson interrupts a valuable father and son bonding hunt between McConaughey and his son or whether it’s going out on the town to get the latter out of his head as he prepares to write a speech honoring his late father, their friendship feels authentic and raw. The series isn’t afraid to tap into the more serrated moments between the two as it balances those heated arguments out with exchanges that are tender and heartfelt that don’t feel forced or manipulative.
Unfortunately, outside of the central duo, the show doesn’t have much else to offer in terms of supporting characters. The respective families of both actors take centerstage more and more as the episodes progress, but they’re given very little depth or development. Holland Taylor, who plays Ma Mac, is entertaining to watch, but she’s mostly saddled with an uninteresting conflict between herself and Harrelson, trying to rid the household of him and his family as he attempts to uncover the truth about whether or not he and McConaughey are actual brothers. Natalie Martinez and Brittany Ishibashi, who plays McConaughey and Harrelson’s wives respectively, also don’t have much to do other than react to the antics surrounding their husbands, a shame since they’re perfectly cast and have solid chemistry with their on screen partners. The same can be said for the actors’ children played by Ella Grace Helton, Noah Carganilla, Oona Mei Yaffe, Jorie Blake Rosen and Highdee Kuan. Each of them have solid chemistry with Harrelson and McConaughey, but they never come across as more than two-dimensional since the material they’re given is lackluster at best.
However, the show’s most notable weakness is the repetitive nature of its structure from episode to episode. After a few episodes, it settles into a steady rhythm and pacing, but the plot mechanics of each installment grow tiresome fairly quickly. Each episode consists of McConaughey and Harrelson getting into new antics, getting on each other’s nerves and mending fences with sprinklings of the latter’s investigation into their mutual heritage. While the episodes certainly go down smoothly and are amusing enough, the laughs are scattered and the predictability becomes a significant issue. Even at just eight episodes, the series feels as if its spinning its wheels in order to progress the story of the central duo, simply not providing the entertainment value it easily could with tighter writing and more unpredictable storytelling.
‘Brothers’ is amusing and serviceable entertainment, but it could’ve been far stronger and more memorable in a different set of hands. While the dynamic and chemistry between McConaughey and Harrelson is endearing and compelling to watch, it’s not enough to keep this series afloat when the writing begins to stall and let them and the supporting cast down. It’s far from Apple TV’s worst series, but it also had the potential to be one of its finest, a disappointment in and of itself that isn’t alright, alright, alright.