The Sound of Philadelphia

Characters band together creating a mess. Story is hard to get into. Actors are mumbling and cussing. Sometimes the characters look the same. Like who is who? Scene jumps everywhere and the ending is just dark. I don't know what was the point. The film is short. Do not watch unless you want to purposely fall asleep.

Brothers by Blood certainly has a impressive ambitions and a lot of thematic weight with its attempts to explore the cycle of violence and the inability to process grief and loss. Unfortunately they are let down by the films overly restrained approach which drains the film of any pace, nuance or emotional heft.

However, it's not without a few positives. Matthias Schoenaerts quiet and understated presence is always a pleasure to watch even if he's played this role one too many times and it contrasts Joel Kinnaman's loud and threatening persona rather well. The music by Séverin Favriau is really beautiful and threatens to give the film some actual life.

It captured the essence of the city better than other movies and I enjoy that. Most movies set in Philly spend time at City Hall etc - where we bring tourists. I can't imagine Matthias Schoenaerts in a car chase - he is more Michael Corleone than Pacino.

Sure its was a slow burn but it was more realistic than most crime movies.

The story isn't original but the resolution at the end is more true to life.

I've wasted 2 hours on worse films

Welp, there goes 105 minutes of my life I'll never get back. What's worse, is that it felt like 3+ hours.

Experienced writer and newb director Jeremie Guez wrote the worst screenplay in the history of mobster films. How is this film classified as "action, crime, drama"? Zero action, 5 mins of crime and 100 mins of boredom. Who funded and greenlit this sloth? A 5th grade drama class could've come up with a better "mobster" film. There were tons of plot and technical issues, and the timeline back and forths made the already convoluted and pointless scenes seem less interesting than paint drying.

Matthias Schoenaerts spent more than half the film staring at the ground in silence (probably contemplating why he agreed to do this film), and the rest into space or shadow boxing (the point of this was??), with maybe a total of 5-10 minutes of dialogue. Either he didn't want to be there, or his character was written in as the most boring straight faced lamest mobster character ever developed.

The rest of the casting and performances were fairly decent, and the cinematography and score were good. It really had the markings to be a great film... it's just too bad the screenplay was so terrible. If you want to get even with someone, have them watch this and tell them it's amazing, to watch until the end, because it's worth it. They'll never speak to you again.

This movie fell short when it could of been great. It was armed with a good story, actors and setting all lined up. Unfortunately, it just didn't formulate. The film started well then about half way in becomes dull. I just expected more, especially when it came to the ending. When all said and done this movie is was just ok.