The Brothers McMullen is a 1995 US comedy drama film directed, written, produced by and starring Edward Burns. It deals with the lives of the three Irish Catholic McMullen brothers from Long Island, New York, over three months, as they grapple with basic ideas and values — love, sex, marriage, religion and family — in the 1990s.
Plot
The film begins with Finbar "Barry" McMullen standing at the grave of his recently-deceased father, along with his mother, who tells him that she's returning to her native Ireland to be with Finbar O'Shaughnessy (after whom Barry is named), her sweetheart of long ago. She tells Barry that while she gave Barry's father 35 of the best years of her life, she's going to start living life her way with the man she really loves. While this could be interpreted as disrespect for the memory of the family patriarch, it is later revealed in the movie that he was an alcoholic and abused his family prior to his death.
Fast forward five years after the cemetery scene. Barry's brother Jack has purchased their parents' home and lives in it with his wife Molly, who is pressing Jack to start a family, despite his reluctance. The truth is, Jack is torn between his love for Molly and his lust for Ann, a former romantic interest of Barry's. Jack begins an affair with Ann.
Meanwhile, Barry and the youngest brother, Pat (Mike McGlone) ask to temporarily move in with Jack, to which he reluctantly agrees. Pat and Barry, like their brother, are torn between prolonged adolescence and commitment to marriage. Pat plans to break his engagement to Susan, but becomes depressed when she breaks up with him, citing his indecisiveness about their relationship and the problems that could come between two faiths, as Susan is Jewish and Pat is a devout Catholic.
Barry shows no interest in a long-term relationship, until he meets Audrey (Maxine Bahns), a woman whom he accuses of "stealing" an apartment that he was trying to rent for himself. Though things don't go well between them at first, they warm up to one another and start a relationship.
Molly learns of Jack's affair after finding a wrapped condom in his pants as she is cleaning up after him one day. She confronts Jack, but he refuses to discuss it. His brothers also try to intervene, but to no avail.
After much pleading, Susan decides to take Pat back. But almost immediately after she does so, Pat decides to end the relationship for good. The reason is Leslie, a girl-next-door type who likes to work on her father's car ... a sharp contrast to Susan's materialistic personality; Leslie offers Pat nothing more than simple friendship. The friendship develops into something a little more when they decide to head out to California together in a classic car that Leslie has her eye on.
Jack, knowing he has to make a choice between his wife and his mistress, finally breaks it off for good with Ann, despite his repeated attempts to do so in the past. Hurt by the rejection that she's heard many times before from Jack, Ann tells him to never call her again. He then returns home determined to rebuild his wounded marriage, but not before paying a visit to his father's grave, promising (in a voice-over) that he'll be a better husband to his wife than his father was, pouring a bottle of Irish whiskey over the grave.
Barry decides to move in with Audrey and take their relationship to the next level. The movie ends with all three brothers gathering at the family homestead with a newfound belief in love and a desire to not let the ghosts of the past stand in their way.
Trivia
- Edward Burns' character Barry is a writer, more specifically, a playwright. In one scene, he's discussing a script idea, which is a soft segue to Burns' real-life screen hit She's the One, which was released the following year.
Production
Ed Burns wrote the screenplay for The Brothers McMullen in the spring of 1993 while working as a production assistant for Entertainment Tonight, where he worked for cameraman Dick Fisher, who later produced and edited the film. Burns' own Irish Catholic background fed into the screenplay, and film was mostly shot in Burns' real-life family home, a large house in a working class neighborhood on Long Island. Shooting took place on weekends over an eight-month period in New York State, USA.
The movie, which was shot on 16mm film, cost only $28,000, essentially the cost of raw stock and processing (this does not, however, include post production costs incurred after the major distribution deal was made, nor the cost of the rights for the Sarah McLachlan song "I Will Remember You" which plays over the end credits).
Responses
The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. It was picked up for distribution by 20th Century Fox and grossed over $10 million at the US box office, making it one of the most profitable independent films of that era. According to Tom Rothman, it was also the first film ever released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which Tom Rothman started for 20th Century Fox, in order to release independent films, despite being in Hollywood.
Main cast
Awards
External links
