Half Brothers appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a strong visual presentation.
Sharpness looked positive. Only a little softness affected wide shots, but those stayed minor so the film usually looked concise and well-defined.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge enhancement was absent. I also failed to detect any source flaws.
In terms of colors, the movie featured a teal and amber palette. These tones didn’t seem overwhelming, but they leaned that way. Across the board, the hues looked fine.
Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows appeared clear and smooth. I thought the movie consistently looked solid.
I felt that the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Brothers seemed fine but it didn’t excel because of a lack of ambition. The movie featured a limited soundfield that favored the forward channels. It showed nice stereo spread to the music as well as some general ambience from the sides.
Some of the broader road scenes opened up the mix, though, and those added pizzazz to the presentation. The tracks offered nice localization and used the surrounds in a compelling way on those occasions when it decided to go “big”.
Audio quality appeared good. Speech was natural and distinct, with no issues related to edginess or intelligibility. Effects sounded clean and accurate, with good fidelity and no signs of distortion.
Music was perfectly fine, as the score and songs showed positive dimensionality. This track was good enough for a “B”, as it seemed fairly immersive, if not particularly active.
We get a mix of extras here, and these launch with an audio commentary from director Luke Greenfield. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, music, sets and locations, editing, photography and related domains.
While Greenfield touches on a number of topics, he applies the heavy-hand of praise too much of the time. This means that we get a decent overview of the film but find ourselves stuck with too much happy talk.
Three featurettes follow, and Three Men and a Goat fills five minutes, 16 seconds with remarks from Greenfield, co-writers Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman, animal handler Chelsey Lewis, producer Jason Benoit, and actors Luis Gerardo Méndez, Juan Pablo Espinosa and Connor Del Rio.
We learn about the project’s origins and development as well as cast, characters and performances. While we get a few decent notes, much of the piece revolves around praise for the participants.
A Matter of Perspective spans four minutes, six seconds and features Greenfield, Méndez, Shuman, Espinosa, Cisneros, Del Rio, and costume designer Daniela Moore.
Here we find notes about the characters’ relationships as well as a few production specifics. Like the prior piece, a couple useful nuggets emerge, but a lot of the clip seems superficial.
Finally, Finding Eloise lasts three minutes, 19 seconds and includes statements from Greenfield, Méndez, Espinosa, Del Rio, Benoit, Cisneros, Shuman, and production designer Ra Arancio-Parrain.
This clip discusses elements related to the mysterious “Eloise” – and it comes with massive spoilers, so don’t watch it until you view the film. It becomes another mildly informative but mostly meh featurette.
Eight Deleted/Alternate/Extended Scenes occupy a total of eight minutes, 33 seconds. These mainly offer minor expansions on the Renato/Asher relationship. They don’t add a whole lot.
An awkward mix of heartfelt drama and wacky comedy, Half Brothers fails to gel. This never becomes a genuinely bad ovie, but it seems underdeveloped and erratic. The Blu-ray brings appealing picture and audio along with a few bonus features. Brothers can’t find a groove.