History Film / Brothers2009

* PushoverParents: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Grace does call out Isabelle for her behavior at the party but still doesn't give her an effective punishment.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police respond to the fight at [[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him to their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances with their lights and sirens turned off, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening. They also in all likelihood would've shot him in real life the moment he started firing his weapon off into the air.

** In real life, Sam would not have been declared dead, only missing, since they never found his remains. Even today there are still soldiers from wars that happened many decades ago still declared missing since their remains were never found, even though in all likelihood they are dead.
** Sam is a Marine, but the base he is assigned to is called a fort. Only army bases are called forts, Marine bases are called camps.
** Sam and his fellow Marines are riding in an Army helicopter from the 173rd Airborne when they are [[spoiler:shot down]], when it would be more fitting for them to be riding in a Marine or Navy helicopter.
* ArtisticLicensePolitics: The film portrays the Taliban as being some sort of secular Afghan nationalist group, when they are actually ultra-religious fanatics with connections to Pakistan. Also they keep their capture of Sam and Willis on the low for a long time, which is odd since typically when such groups capture Americans they tend to immediately go public with it in order to boast about it and hopefully extract some concessions.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Sam finally decides to go get mental help after suffering a mental breakdown over thinking Grace and Tommy were together, but on the downside, Grace and the family now have to struggle with Sam's PTSD as a result]].

* CanNotSpitItOut: [[spoiler:Sam doesn't want to tell anyone that he killed Joe]].
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Maggie.

-->'''Sam''': ''[[SuddenlyShouting YOU KNOW WHAT I DID?!!]]'' TO FUCKING GET BACK TO YOU?!! YOU ''FUCKING'' '''''BITCH!!''''' YOU HOW HE FUCKING ''SUFFERED?!!'' HE FUCKING SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FUCKING HOUSE AND MY FUCKING KIDS, GRACE?! ''(rips the refrigerator door open)'' YOU'RE FUCKING MY BROTHER, YOU'RE FUCKING MY BROTHER IN MY FUCKING HOUSE! [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I LOVE YOU, GRACE]]!
-->'''Grace''': Sam, please. Our girls, please.
-->'''Sam''': YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU?! YOU WHAT I... ''CHRIST!'' DO YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN FUCKING..- YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN DO WITH THESE FUCKING ''HANDS'', '''''GRACE?!!!''''' (repeatedly slaps his face with his hands) YOU ''FUCK!!'' (breaks various things across the kitchen room) ''CHRIST!'' '''''FUCK!!!'''''

** Sam mistakenly believes Grace started a relationship with Tommy while he was in Afghanistan and presumed dead. [[spoiler:Though they did kiss, they didn't proceed out of respect for him]].

* FamilyMan: Played with. Sam was initially the well-respected one in his family, but this changes after he returns to America as a mental wreck.

** Isabelle blatantly telling her father that she wished he "stayed dead," and that her mother would rather "sleep with Uncle Tommy." This is especially heartbreaking since he practically went through hell just to return to her and her sister.

* RageBreakingPoint: Throughout the movie, Sam gradually becomes angry as he learns the hard way how his family moved on without him, despite all the hellish experiences in Afghanistan he kept his family from knowing. His bitterness toward Tommy who he believes cheated with his wife (they did share a kiss, but didn't actually go with it) doesn't help, but it's when his daughter, Isabelle, harshly chides him for favoring her younger sister that the whole situation finally pushes him over the edge, sparking his UnstoppableRage in the climax.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Subverted. Tommy and Grace attempt to begin a relationship while Sam is presumed dead, but don’t go through with it primarily because Tommy serving as one proves to be too awkward. Sam’s belief that Tommy has replaced him drives much of the plot.

** Sam and Tommy; the former being respectable and forthright and the latter being hedonistic and disorderly. However, their dynamic does switch when Sam returns from Afganistan.

* TraumaCongaLine: Sam gets captured by the Afghans alongside his friend, and then is forced to ''kill'' said friend to get back home and return to his family. Once he does make it back home, he becomes anxious over Grace supposedly having an affair with his brother, and then gets [[KickTheDog callously insulted by his resentful daughter]], in which [[UnstoppableRage he finally loses his marbles]].

-->'''Sam''': ''[[SuddenlyShouting YOU KNOW WHAT I DID?!!]]'' TO FUCKING GET BACK TO YOU?!! YOU FUCKING BITCH!!! YOU WHAT I FUCKING ''SUFFERED?!'' AND FUCKING SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FUCKING HOUSE AND MY FUCKING KIDS, GRACE?! ''(rips the refrigerator door open)'' YOU'RE FUCKING MY BROTHER, YOU'RE FUCKING MY BROTHER IN MY FUCKING HOUSE! [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove I LOVE YOU, GRACE]]!
-->'''Grace''': Sam, please. There are girls, please.
-->'''Sam''': YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU?! YOU WHAT I... CHRIST! YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN FUCKING..- YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN DO WITH THESE FUCKING HANDS! ''GRACE!'' YOU FUCK! (repeatedly slaps his face with his hands) (breaks various things across the kitchen room) CHRIST, ''FUCK!''

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Marine bases tend to be on the coasts, since the Marines are a naval service. But the base Sam is at is portrayed as being far inland. The two main Marine bases in North America are Camp Pendleton and Camp Leujene, which are both located in warm areas, whereas the film is set in a snowy, cold locale.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: In real life, Sam would not have been declared dead, only missing, since they never found his remains. Even today there are still soldiers from wars that happened many decades ago still declared missing since their remains were never found, even though in all likelihood they are dead.

** Sam mistakenly believes Grace started a relationship with Tommy while he was in Afghanistan and presumed dead. Though they did kiss, they didn't proceed out of respect for him.
** Isabelle gets angry at her father for favoring Maggie and tells him he should have stayed dead, oblivious to the amount of trauma and suffering he went through (including killing his second-in-command) in order to survive and return to her.
* DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. Sam looks like he's going to shoot himself when the cops arrive but then changes his mind.

* AFatherToHisMen: Sam is distraught when his captors force him to kill Joe.

* CanNotSpitItOut: Sam doesn't want to tell anyone that he killed Joe.

** [[spoiler:Willis]] is buried near the base Sam works at, when he would probably be buried in his hometown (listed as being in the Midwest) or in Arlington National Cemetery.
* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police respond to the fight at[[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him to their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances with their lights and sirens turned off, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening. They also in all likelihood would've shot him in real life the moment he started firing his weapon off into the air.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police arrive at [[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him to their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances with their lights and sirens turned off, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening. They also in all likelihood would've shot him in real life the moment he started firing his weapon off into the air.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police arrive at [[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him to their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances with their lights and sirens turned off, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police arrive at [[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him to their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances without lights and sirens, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: The film portrays the Taliban as being some sort of secular Afghan nationalist group, when they are actually ultra-religious fanatics with connections to Pakistan.
* AtomicFBomb: Sam unleashes a geniunely aggressive one after he dismantles the newly-repaired kitchen.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: The film portrays the Taliban as being some sort of secular Afghan nationalist group, when they are actually ultra-religious fanatics.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Marine bases tend to be on the coasts, since the Marines are a naval service. The two main Marine bases in North America are Camp Pendleton and Camp Leujene, which are both located in warm areas, whereas the film is set in a snowy, cold locale.
* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Near the end, the DOD Police arrive at [[spoiler: Sam's house]] with their lights and sirens blaring, alerting him tho their presence and causing him to go outside to confront them armed. In real-life the police tend to respond to domestic disturbances without lights and sirens, in order to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: The film portrays the Taliban as being some sort of Afghan nationalist group, when they are actually ultra-religious fanatics.

** Sam is a Marine, but the base he is assigned to is called a fort. Only army bases are called forts, Marine bases are called camps. Also, Marine bases tend to be on the coasts. The two main Marine bases in North America are Camp Pendleton and Camp Leujene, which are both located in warm areas, whereas the film is set in a snowy, cold locale.