Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Denny123 If you enjoy clever fast-paced films which showcase characters who are not overly developed, which have an excellent script and you are allured by an uncomplicated plot line, then this is an ideal movie for you to watch.The movie commences with a group of young men being driven around in the back a red van, most of whom look petrified. One of the characters states, "Alright like I said before I wouldn't ask you pussies to do anything I wouldn't do first." The audience is then drawn into the film, wondering who these people are and what they are doing. The audience soon learns that they are members of a fraternity as well as pledges who want to join. Those who are being initiated appear to be robbing convenience stores. They are under the impression that real robberies are being committed. In reality, when the "robber" approaches the store, he is met by a member of the fraternity who hands him money to give the impression that the "robber" was successful. They are told to ask for the amount of $19.10, the significance of which is because this is the year upon which the frat was founded. Motivated by their desire to be included, they think that they are committing criminal acts. The plan, however, falls apart when one of the pledges actually goes through with pointing a gun at the shop assistant, Mike, and gets shot.The movie is clever and it kept me intrigued. It also left me feeling slightly frustrating. I concede it is only a movie, but reviews enable people to engage with one another and raise questions. These people have reached an age where they are able to attend university and hopefully embark upon exciting careers. Is it really worth risking a jail sentence purely to join a fraternity? They probably worked hard to get where they are and paid a huge sum of money.I know that it is not helpful that I do not recall all of the names of the characters, but as a viewer, most people would be inclined to take the injured male to the hospital. Matters are further complicated by the frat throwing a party and the group of boys bring the injured person to the house, kicking the partygoers out of the house. As the movie went on, my attention was captivated because I truly wanted to know what was going to happen. Other films have a tendency to leave certain storylines undeveloped or "forget" about certain characters. This movie did not make that mistake. For example, at the end of the movie, we find out what happens to the boy that who was left locked in the car during the party scene at the frat house. Furthermore, the movie does showcase that people are often left humiliated after casual sex, such as the female character who wanted her eyeglasses returned.I agree with some of the other reviews which state that this is not your typical "frat movie." I found that the movie was interesting because it showcased how far certain people were willing to transgress the law, even by those people who are employed to enforce it. It is highly likely that most people would conclude that the gun shot wound was not the type of injury which could be fixed with a first aid kit. The fact that they gave him painkillers they found in the house did little to satiate the wounded character's high level of pain. They clearly did the wrong thing and were just making things worse. Even though what they did was wrong, it makes for excellent entertainment and I was captivated by the intensity of some of the scenes as the actors played their roles well and were very convincing.The movie was entertaining and it is a movie that I would be willing to watch more than once.

birdieleigh I didn't expect much out of this movie coming into it. It popped up on Netflix one night, and grabbed my attention because it was a "frat movie." I'm not in the Greek system myself, but I have many good friends who are, so the subject is of interest to me (also because they are so often misrepresented in the media, but that's a discussion for another day). I prepared myself for another overblown party movie, and ended up being served something completely different and far more impressive.What I ended up watching (instead of a fluff-piece on partying and sex) was a gripping, well-paced, superbly-acted and well-executed drama. Brotherhood is about more than "frat boys": it is about human motivation and decision making, it is about loyalty, and it shows how just one simple turn of events can change everything you had ever planned or expected.I know the plot description for this sounds cliché and awful. Trust me--I almost didn't watch it myself. But don't pass this one up. It is a truly engrossing ride from start to finish. I really wish this film were more well-known!

jeffrey92 I don't blame anyone for not liking this movie and few years ago I probably would have thought much less of it myself. I've never written a review on IMDb, but after looking through all the other reviews and not seeing any by anyone who is in a fraternity, I decided I'd give it a try.I'll be honest in saying I didn't watch the first 20 minutes or so. It was on a movie network randomly and I'm always a sucker for watching "frat movies", if not just to see how accurate they are. I have to say I was really surprised by this movie: the acting and the story line both rang true with me on multiple occasions. The typical fraternity movie is all about partying and for good reason-- that's what some fraternities are all about. This movie definitely honed in on some of the other aspects of fraternity life. On my campus in particular, any little mishap that the administration finds out about can get you kicked of campus indefinitely. I guess most people don't care, but when you're in a fraternity you take this seriously. The "us against them" thing is definitely something that can come up in Greek life. Not to mention, if someone decides to take their friend to the hospital they can get in a lot of trouble, and that comes up all the time, fraternity or not.Yes, most of the situations that came up in the movie were completely ridiculous and you would have to be stupid to actually allow them in your chapter. A fraternity alumnus becoming a cop (haha), telling pledges to rob a store, locking a pledge up in a trunk with a bunch of booze... But the weird thing was that all of these situations were only a few steps up from things that actually happen. The ending, for me, was chilling.Locking someone in the back of a trunk might not be realistic, but there are other similar ways that could have happened. Just a few years ago, a local fraternity got kicked off campus, disbanded, and people involved arrested because a pledge drank too much and passed out. They took him to the hospital, but on the way there he woke up, so they thought he was fine. He passed out again but the next morning he didn't wake up. I don't know how the guys who found him felt, but I definitely felt more watching this movie than I did when we all had to watch interviews of the guys involved in the case at my college as new members. To sum it up, a lot of people will see this as just an OK thriller, but I think the last scene adds a lot of worth to this film. The conflict of interest in the movie was really intriguing. A few random things though: The pledges, and some of the members, looked way too old, although they did a decent job of looking like they had no idea what was going on. The crazy girl wanting her toilet seats back was pretty funny, and sadly this was actually believable (minus all her friends being there to back her up). The cop could have taken the guy to the hospital and written whatever he wanted in the report. The scene where they give the money back is just over the top. I'll probably watch it again though

Nicolas Grimaldi Although I consider myself a pretty avid movie-fan I usually don't post reviews on this website because I've never really felt compelled to do so. That being said, I caught this movie on showtime while battling a bit of insomnia and I found it so incredibly irritating that I had to publicly voice my opinion. I don't even really know where to begin, I guess what was most troubling was how incredibly unrealistic every aspect of this story is. Everything that happens in this film and everyones reactions to those happenings is simply impossible to believe. Besides that, the writing was poor and the acting was brutal (how bad was the racist kid?). It's troubling to see this movie get so high of a rating, and to think that it won an award at a legitimate film festival truly blows my mind. Even more unbelievable was the positive feedback most critics gave to this film, what did they see in this film that I wasn't able to? If you find yourself in a similar situation to me, randomly tuning into this movie at 3 AM, do yourself a favor and turn the TV off immediately, those two hours of sleep are infinitely more valuable than this piece of trash film.