‘Half Brothers’ Review—Somewhat Watchable

Luke Greenfield directs Half Brothers, a buddy road trip comedy-drama about Renato (Luis Gerardo Méndez), a Mexican man who is forced to go on a cross-country scavenger hunt at the request of his dying father with an American brother, Asher (Connor Del Rio), that he never knew existed.

When it comes to certain genres, such as the slasher flick, filmmakers generally must find creative ways to keep their films interesting and unique. However, making something original is a much more difficult task with a buddy road trip movie, as the film's entire premise is summarized in the genre itself.

Ask yourself a question: what are the key ingredients to a cheeseburger? No matter what restaurant you’re in, wherever you are in the world, a cheeseburger will always have a patty, cheese, and bread. There may be different variations in how it’s made, and some may put the cheese above or below the patty, but it will always be the same.

For those of you who have seen other buddy road trip movies like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Due Date, what do you think will happen in this film? We have two people; one is very friendly and obnoxious, and the other is very serious and annoyed. They go on a trip, bicker for a bit, and eventually put aside their differences, work together, and become friends.

This is the buddy road trip movie formula that has persisted for decades. Unfortunately, Half Brothers follows that formula to a tee, with our protagonist, Renato, serving as a straight man to Asher’s comedic shenanigans that can sometimes feel like an early Ryan Reynolds performance.

Here we have a somewhat watchable film. The film opens with Renato as a child juxtaposed with unnecessary narration, and we learn that he had a close relationship with his father. However, his father left to find work in the United States and never returned, leaving Renato with a great disdain for him.

The two brothers meet at a café in the polar opposite of a meet-cute, and their father sends them on a scavenger hunt to give Renato all of the answers to the questions he had growing up about where he went. The relationships these two men have with their father are the film's emotional center, which works quite well.

As it’s also a comedy, the film has a few funny lines here and there, but it doesn’t deliver nearly as many laughs as a comedy should, with much of the film simply being Renato getting really mad at Asher and wrestling him in the dirt.

It doesn’t have as much memorability as it could, with the only unique thing about the film being the way it handles its messages about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and the detention centers that were prevalent during the Trump administration.

While the film doesn’t do a poor job of making fun of certain stereotypes between Americans and Mexicans, it generally treads familiar territory. Gerardo Méndez gives a great dramatic performance that can feel a bit too serious for this role, and the brothers don’t have as much chemistry as they should.

Having said that, the film manages to be somewhat watchable. It’s not a film you immediately want to turn off, but it’s a movie you won’t be hurrying to rewatch or recommend to anyone after it ends. It has its heartwarming moments and a fair amount of payoffs that were predictable but earned.

The film feels a bit tiring after we already had a buddy road trip movie with two brothers and a dead father earlier this year with Pixar’s Onward. Overall, it’s a passable, slightly entertaining movie that nobody will remember by a week from now.

Grade: ★★★☆☆ [6/10, C+]

Rating: PG-13 for some violence and strong language