Brother's Keeper

Brother's Keeper

By Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky

  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release Date: 2003-07-29
  • Advisory Rating: Unrated
  • Runtime: 1h 44min
  • Director: Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
  • Production Company: Asteros Film
  • Production Country: Romania, Turkey
  • iTunes Price: USD 9.99
  • iTunes Rent Price: USD 3.99
7.2/10
7.2
From 45 Ratings

Description

On the morning of June 6, 1990, the village of Munnsville (pop. 499) was just another forgotten corner of rural America. But in the days and months that followed, this New York farming community would become the center of one of the most celebrated and bizarre murder trials in U.S. history. Brother's Keeper tells the story of the "Ward Boys," four eccentric brothers who shared the same dilapidated two-room shack for over 60 years. Living in isolation, without heat or running water, these elderly bachelors had virtually no contact with the outside world--until one was found dead in the bed he shared with his brother. By day's end, Delbert Ward "confessed" to suffocating his ailing brother as an act of mercy, but Munnsville believed Delbert had been framed. Was Delbert, an uneducated hermit with a low IQ, an innocent victim of police abuse? Was it a mercy killing--or was there another motive? From award-winning filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Paradise Lost), Brother's Keeper is a real-life murder mystery as suspenseful and compelling as any Hollywood whodunit.

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Reviews

  • Possibly the WORST documentary ever made

    1
    By Card shark jqka
    If you're considering renting this POS, run away now and do not look back. I trusted Spalding Gray's review/recommendation that this was the most riveting documentary ever. It's horrible. Excruciatingly slow. The dialog is unintelligible and the producers apparently never considered subtitles. The plot goes nowhere. There are absolutely no insightful questions asked by the producers to elucidate how the brothers got where they are or to add any depth to their characters. They brothers are just allowed to ramble endlessly and without direction. There is only one character in the entire documentary I related to, sort of. It's also 25 years old and has been recycled by iTunes. Shame on iTunes! Rather than resurrecting this overrated, outdated garbage they should have put another bullet in its head to make sure it was dead.
  • Ignore the few negative reviews here... this was great!

    5
    By I Don't Vote Anymore
    Totally riveting. Enjoyed ever moment. The scene with the brother as a witness in court- when he was so overcome with emotion that he was basically incapable of speaking reminded me of a time when I was called as a witness following a break-in at my home, I wasn't nearly as bad as the guy in the film, but I could relate. Well worth the watching!
  • Incredible story...

    5
    By Greatrobini
    This was a great film/ documentary…understanding that the writers visited with them for several weekends before filming started and did it all on a small budget whilst keeping their real jobs makes this film even more inspiring…. Keep your million dollar movies and lets have more of these type of films. Credit to the makers…. I will be thinking about this film for a long time……..Highly Recommended
  • Movie Sucked

    1
    By bman46
    This movie sucked. You can't understand what the heck anyone in the movie is saying. It's slow moving and borderline torture. I love documentaries but this is just terrible!
  • What was that?

    2
    By tooneeku
    When I read the reviews, I was expecting a terrific documentation. Instead I got a strange, inconsistent story about a strange family. None of the points made are really relevant… not recommended!
  • Brother

    1
    By Bonezy the HERD
    This was the SORRYIEST MOVIE I have EVER watched! Period!! I ESPECIALLY HATED with a PASSION, the part where Mr. TUFF GUY has a gun, and gets in the back of the Hog trailer and is a REAL TUFF GUY when he doesen't even kill the pig and then SLITS HIS THROAT like he is some kind of Bad *ss towards the pig! One BIG piece of CRAP MOVIE and I wish the old man would have received what the PIG DID the Dirty *********!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Worth Seeing Once

    5
    By dréwstå
    How did I not see this until 2011?
  • Amazing

    5
    By nogood82
    A great documentary about a portion of this country that is often forgotten and about simply existing in a strange world. Also after reading some of the negative reviews I feel the need to point out this is not a fiction presented as documentary but an actual documentary.
  • Good Not Great

    3
    By TBalz
    After all the great reviews I thought I'd give the movie a shot and rented. I'm glad I rented because I thought the movie was okay. I had a hard time understanding the brothers and I think that was the point of the movie. I love documentaries, and if you like seeing movies about real people then I recommend. I can't believe I am one of the few to even think the movie was okay. I will admit that it had me glued to the screen to see what happens next.
  • Poor audio & odd doco style

    2
    By fearofclowns
    Poor audio & odd doco style

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