Hollywood has spent so long degrading black characters that whenever a film comes out with any real thoughtfulness regarding how race is lived in America it automatically stands out. A recent trend in films by African-American films has been to ignore the relationships between blacks and whites altogether and focus instead on other aspects of black life. Director Gary Hardwick's The Brothers is a well intentioned and often thoughtful meditation on the interaction between upwardly mobile black men and the women in their lives. The titular foursome represent a cross-section that Hardwick perceives in black professionals, both in terms of career (a lawyer, a doctor, an office worker, an executive) and in terms of levels of maturity. Morris Chestnut plays the most complex character, a decent guy who is just about ready to start treating women as more than playthings. DL Hughley got married before he was ready for the sake of his daughter. Shemar Moore has decided to take the plunge and commit. Bill Bellamy is the consummate playboy, looking for unchallenging relationships while fulfilling his emotional needs with his friends instead. Each actor brings an individuality to his role that makes the characters immediately recognizable as real. They are a diverse bunch of actors, with backgrounds in drama, stand-up, soaps, and, well, VJ'ing, but they mesh into a believable group of friends.

When playing emotion this close to the heart (the filmmaker claims many of the situations are autobiographical) there is a tendency to create maudlin sentimentality, and The Brothers is often guilty of that. Some of the conflicts and resolutions are too cute and movie-ish to ring true. Still, many of the basic struggles (with fathers, with mothers, with commitment, with sexual frustration) are played right by the cast and work better for it.

VIDEO:
The anamorphic video is crisp and sharp. The cinematography is lively and the colors and angles pop with energy. No compression artifacts are visible and the print is clean.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is dynamic and sounds good. There is a lot of music in the film and it brings out the range. A 2.0 French track is also available, as are English and French subtitles.

EXTRAS:
The Brothers has been treated with a pretty lavish set of extras. Director Gary Hardwick's commentary is informative and interesting. He discusses how the film's four main characters each comes from a part of himself and how his own insecurities and flaws played into the script. Obviously making the film helped him understand his own motivations a little bit better.

The featurette included is actually an interview with Hardwick intercut with scenes from the film, where he discusses many of the same ideas as he does on the commentary. If you don't feel like listening to the entire commentary but still want to know a little about Hardwick's process, it's a good substitute.

Hardwick also provides commentary for a series of deleted scenes, some of which add a little extra character development. Clearly these scenes were cut simply to reduce the running time of the film.

A music video for Eric Benet's smoove jam "Love Don't Love Me" as well as a selection of trailers, are also included.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Imperfect but not without merit, The Brothers presents flawed characters and genuinely wants to show them learning and changing. Ultimately the pat ending is too easy and clean, but Hardwick's intentions are good.