MovieChat Forums > The Long Riders (1980) Discussion > The brother actors thing

The brother actors thing

posted 17 years ago by Byzantine15
13 replies | jump to latest

I'm just trying to get opinions here. Was the decision to cast real life brothers as the sibling characters really effective? Was it just a promotion hook? Was it an imaginative idea and if so was the idea successful in regard to the final work? Did the brother actors really bring a sense of rapport or closeness (the first person to say the word 'chemistry' will be taken out and shot) that couldn't be achieved by casting skilled and appropriate (and unrelated) actors? I suppose that if physical resemblances were the only rationale, it would still be valid. Tell us what you think.

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[–] Cal_Mac 16 years ago

I think their biology was good!!

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[–] Byzantine15 16 years ago

A firing squad is no laughing matter, son.

This is my signature, not the last sentence of my post.

[–] Cal_Mac 16 years ago

Did I say chemistry?? :P

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[–] Byzantine15 16 years ago

No, but I was beginning to fear that you might, so it seemed a word of caution was in order.

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[–] outridernate 16 years ago

You did now. Whoops!

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[–] Cal_Mac 16 years ago

Damn, you got me there!

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[–] cengelm 16 years ago

Are there other movies with "brothers-playing-brothers"?

[–] Werebeagle 16 years ago

It's only one scene, but in the version of Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan, Owen & Luke Wilson play Orville & Wilbur Wright.

Dave (The Werebeagle)
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[–] djfrenchy911 16 years ago

As long as actors produce more than one child, there is always a good shot for sibling actors (the Caradines, the Keaches, the Cusacks, the Sheen/Esteves clan, etc). I think it has a lot to do with the fact that these actors grow up around movie sets and think nothing of taking on their parent's profession. In other situations, younger siblings follow their older siblings into acting, with their older, more successful (at least in the beginning) siblings giving the younger ones bit parts in their movies or shows (Eric and Julia Roberts, Randy and Dennis Quaid). While I don't think it has anything to do with "chemistry" when they cast siblings in movies together, I believe it is really the idea of seeing an actor's true personality come out when they act with their brother or sister.

Just look at any movie where John and Joan Cusack work together. They may not be playing brother and sister, but they always act like two people who have known each other forever.

[–] crood 8 years ago

In Scrooged, Bill Murray's brother, John, played his brother. Also, another brother, Brian Doyle Murray, played his father in the Christmas Past sequence.

[–] jeffscsr 15 years ago

the physics were good

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[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 15 years ago

It worked for me.

[–] will_teach_13 15 years ago

I think you should go write your own research paper, instead of asking someone else to do it for you.