Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage in “Bro-Crime”

The dominance of streaming content over theatrical distribution continues to grow rapidly brotherLegend Entertainment Distributor Amazon-MGM Pictures played the film in a handful of theaters for a week without critics before debuting on Prime on October 17. That strategy was likely accidental for a mildly funny film that lacked the heft to compete at the box office early in awards season, allowing the film to find a less-than-loyal audience in the streaming realm.

In Max Barbacco’s second feature, Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage play a pair of conflicting, heavy-jawed siblings (a fact enhanced by Dinklage’s mustache) ), in which he traded in the subtle comedy of Max Barbako. palm springs Clumsy humor with disappointingly weak effectiveness.

Synopsis: Career criminal Jady Munger (Dinklage) is successfully acquitted of burglary and assault charges after striking a secret deal with crooked Judge Favre (Emmett Walsh). A large portion of the sentence.

Under the watchful eye of Favre Correctional Officer’s son James (Brendan Fraser), Jady agrees to help recover and hand over millions of dollars’ worth of stolen emeralds that were stolen by his mother years ago Abandoned by Keith Munger (Glenn Close). To complete his plan, Jady attempts to recruit his twin brother Mork (Brolin), who nearly landed him in jail by trying to go straight after teaming up with Jady on multiple robberies.

After an initial adjustment to Dinklage and Brolin playing twins, they tend to settle into the familiar twists and turns of a fun heist comedy. But those expectations are quickly upended by some incredibly complex family drama.

When Jady shows up uninvited at the baby shower of Mork’s pregnant wife Abby (Taylor Paige), Mork’s carefully compartmentalized life is in danger of falling apart – unless he agrees to use his… Safecracking skills to obtain emeralds to appease Jady. As the brothers embark on a road trip to complete their mission, with Officer Favre in hot pursuit, Mock has little suspicion that Jady’s misguided attempt to forge a family connection has set him up for a world of harm.

Jardy’s staccato voiceover narration attempts to stitch together the brothers’ decades of missed opportunities and bad feelings, while Dinklage’s melancholy expression and coaxing tone help Jardy deliberately manipulate emotions.

However, any attempts at reconciliation are put on hold when Mork discovers that Jady has been in contact with Case for some time without telling him. Her sudden appearance 30 years later sends him spiraling downward until his mother and brother draw him back in to focus on the logistics of the heist, which turns out to be more unorthodox than either of them expected.

If their appearance never showed a family resemblance, brother Now inexorably linked, Brolin and Dinklage found fertile ground for their less-appreciated comedic talents in the delicate bro-bro dynamic between estranged brothers. Close proved inspired in her performance as the sinister and unrepentant Kath, who shows little maternal concern for her sons in order to obtain the emerald.

While the premise suggests a quirky buddy comedy like Adam McKay’s stepbrother or Ivan Reitman’s twin, brother Lacks the quirkiness of the filmmaker’s earlier work. It eschews the charming humor that Babakov made so memorable in his work. groundhog day Improvisation palm springs Or the weirdness of screenwriter Macon Blair Toxic Avenger.

However, the film does provide its supporting cast and star with tasty characters and quick dialogue, giving Fraser a gonzo role as the angry Favre and a few choice lines from a veteran Sending off Walsh. Even Marisa Tomei’s cameo effectively plays Jady’s prison correspondence, long-distance love, and owner of pet orangutan Samuel, who, in one of the film’s few laugh-out-loud scenes, has a crush on Mo. Ke developed an abnormal love.

brother Feisty shooting by Quyen Tran and a vibrant score by Rupert Gregson-Williams (backed by a selection of 70s pop songs). But for a movie that aspires to zany comedy, it brings too much casting fire to a thin plot and even sketchier character development. It probably doesn’t matter whether streaming viewers notice the misalignment as long as they remember the mismatched brothers.