'Brothers' a personal tale of siblings in battle

Jake Rademacher's Iraq war film "Brothers At War" is less about "finding the heart of the American soldier" as one observer phrases it, than a personal documentary exploring sibling rivalry.

Rademacher, a downstate Decatur native, had always been fascinated by war and why American soldiers willingly fight them. So, when his brothers Isaac and Joe deployed to Iraq, he packed up his cameras and went with them to document their experiences and to bring back some understanding of what a soldier's life is like in this war.

Early on, Jake reveals that he wanted to join the infantry, but eyesight problems prevented him from being admitted to West Point where Isaac graduated. Jake makes no secret that he feels slightly cheated out of the war experience. It doesn't help that Joe constantly reminds Jake that he doesn't know what it's like in Iraq.

So, as a way to prove himself to his brothers (and himself), Jake ships out to chronicle their experiences by putting together a film team in a short seven days. Miraculously, he gets bankrolled during the eleventh hour by a local Decatur businessman who believed in his project.

What Jake brought back from Iraq is an earnest, glorified home movie swelling with good intentions and a few harrowing moments, but one that's way too accepting of the events and people in front of the camera lens.

In "Brothers at War," Jake doesn't assign relative values to events, so minor activities such as his lengthy attempt to urinate in a bottle while riding over rough terrain get as much prominence as some of the more revealing, significant moments.

In the movie's most heart-wrenching footage, Joe's fiance holds back tears as she describes how the war changed Joe into an emotional iceberg who forbids her to ever cry in his presence, presumably because it suggests weakness.

What happened to make him this way? What does Joe think of this? Does he even know?

"Brothers at War" merely notes the domestic price tag of war's emotional costs, and marches on to the next scene.

In fact, the movie isn't big on following up on the many issues it raises. It's driven by Jake's fascination with everything about the war, from the trivial to the devastating, but without challenging inquiries or redirecting questions that might take his search for the heart of the American soldier a little deeper than the expected, admirable motivations of duty, honor and service.

If "Brothers at War" isn't an exemplary piece of documentary journalism, it still functions like a wonderful home movie, capturing a sense of the people and everyday experiences in a place that is far, far from home.

And it finally allows Jake Rademacher to say to his brother Joe, "Yes, I do know what it's like over there. I was with you."