If you’re a cinephile who came of age in the 2000s, then it’s hard to think ofTobey Maguireas anything other than a major fixture of your childhood. Primarily due to his genre-defining portrayal of Peter Parker intheSam RaimiSpider-Mantrilogy, Maguire was an ideal role model-type actor for kids looking for a hero to emulate during a turbulent era in American history. Perhaps because of that success, he tended to be typecast in that mold too often, when that arguably wasn’t even his greatest strength.Roger Ebertnoted as much in his review of the forgotten 2009 remakeBrothers, wherehe claimed Maguire completely stole the movie by operating in a zone he rarely went to.
Tobey Maguire Was An All-American Idol
It’s important to first note what kind of roles Maguire gained notoriety for, the mode that audiences grew accustomed to seeing him in. It wasn’t just as Spider-Man that he was positioned as an admirable hero, sincefilms as varied asThe Cider House Rules,Pleasantville, andSeabiscuitall had him play plucky heroes with hearts of gold. Maguire had an earnest All-American boy-next-door demeanor mixed with a charming stubbornness that, ironically, made him seem like a better fit forCaptain Americathan Spider-Man. But that golden retriever energy was often moderated by a lurking darkness, where his wide-eyed glare became a flinty stare, and that stubbornness gave way to an abrasive and pugnacious anger that was shocking when it appeared. As much as he could give a heartfelt speech or get his eyes just the right amount of wet,Maguire’s strongest moments come when he loses himself to his unhinged side, hence why his surprise appearance as a drugged-out creep inBabylonis one of the highlights of his career. Ebert recognized this truth when he watchedBrothersand pointed out how powerful Maguire was.
Roger Ebert Didn’t Know Tobey Maguire Could Be This Dark
Brothersis about two brothers, Sam (Maguire) and Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who love and support each other, even as they tend to be opposites in personality. Sam is a straight-arrow devoted husband, father, and veteran Marine, while Tommy is the family black sheep who’s just been released from prison and is seen as a reprobate by his family. Sam’s two daughters struggle with how often he leaves them behind for his Marine duties, and his father (Sam Shepard) practically worships him and resents Tommy.Sam is sent on another tour in Afghanistan, leaving Tommy to take care of his wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his two kids. When Sam is presumed dead after his helicopter is shot down, Tommy helps Grace and her daughters through the grieving process, which leads to him and Grace caving into their shared vulnerability and indulging in a regrettable kiss.
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Things only get more awkward when it turns out thatSam is alive and comes home deeply traumatized from his experiences, unable to communicate what he saw and what he’s going through. Sam’s increasingly erraticmental healthis a slowly fizzling fuse in a powder keg house full of familial tension and one huge secret that could destroy everyone, and while Gyllenhaal and Portman give fine performances that are neither of their best work, Maguire gives a performance so upsetting thatEbert claimedhe’d “never seen these dark depths in him before.”
Tobey Maguire Was Better Served By His Dark Side
Before enduring his unimaginable tragedy, we see that Sam is someone who can read the room and pick up on the unspoken emotional needs of those he loves most, which is what makes his return so disturbing. Rather than amp up the overt anguish,Maguire plays Sam as practically lobotomized, divorced from his own bodyand lost ina phantom zone. It’s difficult to look him in his eyes as he pensively stares his way through everyone, treating common niceties like hieroglyphics that he struggles to translate. This is in stark contrast to howUlrich Thomsenplayed this character in the original, who went for a more twitchy and physically agitated performance, his trauma leaking out of him while Maguire’s sinks inside of him until he reaches a boiling point. Maguire’s acting has always been defined by an uneasy stillness, and it’s chilling to see that stillness pulled down to such an autopilot degree. It’swhen Sam is at his rawest and most explosive that you see Maguire like never before, shredding his nerves and pouring his soul out in a paranoid tirade that’s blistering in its forcefulness.
Knowing what we’ve allegedly heard aboutTobey Maguire’s off-screen behavior, it feels like Maguire is tapping into something more authentic inside of him compared to the goody-two-shoes whipper-snapper that Hollywood wanted him to be. In his review, Roger Ebert commented how “actors possess a great gift to surprise us, if they find the right material in their hands,” and Tobey Maguire would have been better served by finding material that let him play into this side of him more often.
While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam’s helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
