Brothers at War

FILM REVIEW: BROTHERS AT WAR By Michael Phillips Tribune Movie Critic 2-1/2 stars The Bush era will forever be defined by America''s war in Iraq, which provoked a barrage of left-leaning documentaries - some great, like "No End in Sight" and "The War Tapes," others one-dimensional and hectoring - dealing with its consequences. "Brothers at War" is designed (and limited) as a corrective to what its maker sees as the antiwar harangues preceding it. Director and Decatur, Ill., native Jake Rademacher has a strong personal story to relay. You wish the film, executive-produced by Gary Sinise, dug deeper and dealt with a messier variety of perspectives. But at least it got made. Rademacher, the oldest of five brothers and a one-time Chicago-area actor, comes from a military family. Poor eyesight kept him out of West Point; his brother Isaac graduated West Point with highest honors, and brother Joe enlisted, became an Army Ranger and a crack sniper. They ended up, briefly, in the same unit. Feeling left behind and often at odds with his own siblings, Jake and a skeletal film crew embedded themselves with four different combat units in Iraq. Jake''s mission was simple: see the war the way his brothers were living it. Dubbed "Hollywood" by his brothers'' fellow soldiers, Rademacher finds himself a newbie filmmaker flying blind in a war zone. He confronts bullets, IEDs, the grudging respect of his warrior brothers, the support of family members at home. The closest "Brothers at War" comes to wrestling with doubts is when we hear from Jenny, Isaac''s wife, whose infant daughter barely knows her father (at least at the time of filming): "I don''t know how he''s doing it. I couldn''t do it. I couldn''t leave her. I''d go out of my mind." Some of the best footage involves time-killing, as when soldiers debate the merits and hotties of "The O.C.," or when we see the precise and fractious interactions between American soldiers and their Iraqi Army comrades. Made with the full cooperation of the Pentagon, "Brothers at War" makes the war on screen seem eminently winnable, eminently noble. Rademacher''s desire to prove himself to himself, and to his soldier brothers, may stir different reactions among different audience members. And that''s as it should be. MPAA rating: R (for language and a brief war image). Running time: 1:50. Opening: Friday at AMC Cantera 30 and AMC River East 21. Featuring: Jake Rademacher, Isaac Rademacher, Joseph Rademacher, Jenny Rademacher. Directed by Jake Rademacher; produced by Norman S. Powell and Jake Rademacher. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release.