Brotherly Love (2015)

Caution: This review contain spoilers!!! Brotherly Love depicts a strong portrayal of an urban Black family struggling despite adversaries. I believe that Jamal Hill did an awesome job with real life struggles in the film. Here are some analysis that indicates a sequel is needed for more professional critics to take the movie more seriously. *In the opening scene, it is important to understand how Jamal Hill left the perpetrator of the killing of Omar (Chris' cousin) and other kids from the kill open to be ANYONE. Chris was in the bathroom and may have thought he saw June... HE was the only one who saw June. Here, I felt the plot should have been deepened a bit because there is no indication in the movie that June did this. He may have been upset about the card game, but not enough to kill. Plus, at the beginning of the movie, June asked his friends if they had any updates about the homicide from the previous night... unaware. *Keke's (Jackie's) friend Trina seems to encourage her relationship with Chris. In the opening scene, she mentions his name in the bathroom AND then encourages Jackie to call him. Why would she do this knowing that there were conflicts with kids from the Bottom? Was Jackie's friend Trina in on this?-to set her and Chris up. It may have been a gesture on her part-being a friend or simply the way the plot was built. *Chris made SURE Jackie was nowhere near all the drama and violence that occurred. Initially, he asked her if she was allowed to keep company and she told him that was not a good idea. (Hindsight-My thought is that Chris had plans to ambush the entire family, but his plans were thwarted) Every time Jackie was with him, there was violence... the break in and shooting at the Taylor's house and violence at the party with Cram. *Sergio's friend may have been set up to break into the House on the Hill. When Sergio went upstairs and opened the drawer, he closed it quickly after it revealed that it was the house of Chris Collins as Jackie's necklace and remnants of June's money taken during the robbery was in the drawer. NOTE: Jackie was wearing the necklace at the end of the movie. How did she get the necklace back if this was the night that everything went down? *Also, Chris gave June the information to get back at the goons who robbed him so that they would not eventually talk and expose him. He was covering his tracks. He didn't want anything to lead back to him and I think at this point he was considering not going through with his plan. After Jackie told him that June is a straight up gangster and should not be crossed, Chris knew that he had to go through with his plan or June would kill him if he found out that he was at the center of all the drama. CHRIS WAS A STRAIGHT UP GANGSTA. *Chris bodied people throughout the movie. He killed June's friend, Bunch AND arranged the home invasion at the Taylors the night he took Jackie to the studio. Remember the money that Sergio saw in the drawer of the house they broke into? (back to that again) *At the end of the movie, it was revealed that Jackie had a child, but viewers assumed that she was not forwarding her life. She could be attending music school or engaged in something else to further herself. Any thoughts? These are just mine. I do believe that there is a need for a sequel to this movie. Jamal Hill has definitely stepped up his game EVEN MORE over the last three years. He will BLOW theatres out of the water with a sequel.

Are you serious?! I was SO not expecting that! Going through Netflix the other night looking for a background distraction while cleaning, I came across this movie, Brotherly Love. I'm from Philly, so why not check it out? Usually, I read about a movie before watching it. But, I read no synopsis, no reviews, and didn't care to know who was cast in this. Because the movie was just a distraction, I just hit the play and continued to clean. And then it happened. I stopped cleaning. An unpredictable story line with an all-star cast kept me glued to the screen. Great movies are simple in theory and challenging in execution. I imagine, to make a movie great, it requires two things: a good story and exceptional actors to tell it. This movie delivered on both. ----Who is this writer/director Jamal Hill? What else is he creating? How are there so many freakin' awesome actors in this ONE movie?!----So, if you were wondering… no, I didn't finish my cleaning the other night. (I know you were wondering… yes, you were). Instead, I watched this movie, which had me thinking about it the next day, and the next, and the next. We need more Mr. Hill. I'm just saying… we need more movies that command attention and that leave an impression. Very. Well. Done.

I really didn't expect much for this movie, I guess because there wasn't much hype behind it. I only went to go see it because my friend had seen it and said he wanted to see it again because it was good. I thought nothing of it and just went along since he was paying :-) I started out yawning while watching the previews because we'd gotten there early and had to wait a while before the movie started. But once it started, I was up and stayed up the entire time because the action started from beginning to end. I thought this movie was underrated but excellent! It was interesting literally from beginning to end and has some great morals in the story. The writer did an excellent job!

I attended the press junket for "Brotherly Love" and writer/director Jamal Hill couldn't have said it better, it's as if he read my mind, in that it's been a while since movies like this have graced our screen. Lately, we only rely on Tyler Perry to deliver us movies about black culture, not just his Madea movies obviously, the ones he produces as well, but for stories about struggling teenagers, it's been a long, long, while. Of course, John Singleton's "Boyz N The Hood" set the bar really high, but I think what Jamal Hill has accomplished with BROTHERLY LOVE is worth noticing. The quality may be very indie but the story and the characters are all too familiar.Set in West Philadelphia, which I've visited a few times in the past. With the backdrop of the famed Overbrook high school, BROTHERLY LOVE focuses on a family. Older brother June (Cory Hardrict) who had to give up his B-ball dream and become 'the father' when their father died resulting in their mother losing all hopes and responsibility. June has to provide for his family, so he hustles and rolls in gangster life. His brother, Sergio (Eric D. Hill Jr) is the school's basketball star and June is determined to live vicariously through him, to make sure that Sergio doesn't end up like he does, that Sergio gets to be what he used to dream of becoming. Their younger sister, Keke Palmer, is an aspiring musician who finds herself distracted by her crush, Chris Collins, who comes from a wealthy family, his dad manages famous artists and musicians. The lower class don't mingle with he upper class, there's suspicion and animosity, but let's face it, who can really get in between blossoming young young romance.We either have one in our family or extended family or we know of one or two folks in our circle of friends who had to throw in the towel on their dreams and future ambitions because something came up and they're forced to wear a different 'hat' in their family, too early on in the game. BROTHERLY LOVE may be an African American-centered film with African American cast and filmmakers but the story is universal. And what's entertaining about this drama is that there's a bit of "On The Waterfront," there's a bit of "West Side Story" feel to it too. It's clear that this comes from a filmmaker who loves movies, and Jamal also injects a surprise twist ending that you wouldn't see coming a mile away, even M. Night Shyamalan probably couldn't figure it out. BROTHERLY LOVE is about the choices we make, we often argue that there's no choice, we have to do this, we have to do this, it's the only way, but the fact is there is always a choice, and what we ultimately decide would bring consequences that could be either rewarding or deadly.Please read more at Ramascreen.Com