Brothers Director Breaks Down That Wild Ape Love Scene with Josh Brolin and More (2025)

Brothers stars Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage as bickering twins who try to escape their family's criminal heritage with a final big score. The raunchy crime comedy has a banner supporting ensemble with Oscar winners Brendan Fraser and Marisa Tomei alongside veteran actors Glenn Close (with eight Oscar nominations to her name) and the late, great M. Emmet Walsh in one of his final performances. MovieWeb spoke to director Max Barbakow, primarily known for his debut feature Palm Springs, about the film's lengthy journey to get made and its exclusive streaming premiere on Prime Video.

Finally Getting Brothers to Prime Video

3.5/5

Brothers (2024)

R

Action

Comedy

Two criminal twin brothers, one trying to reform, embark on a dangerous heist road trip. Facing legal troubles, gunfights and family drama, they must reconcile their differences before their mission leads to self-destruction.

Release Date

October 17, 2024

Director

Max Barbakow

Cast

Josh Brolin , Peter Dinklage , Taylour Paige , M. Emmet Walsh , Jen Landon , Brendan Fraser , Glenn Close , Gralen Bryant Banks , Andrew Joseph Brodeur , Margo Moorer , Brooks Indergard , Jonathan Aidan Cockrell , Joshua Mikel , Pat Fisher , Nathan Hesse , Taylor St. Clair , Alonzo Ward , William Tokarsky , Matt Lewis , Roger Payano , Marisa Tomei

Runtime

88 Mins

Writers

Macon Blair , Etan Cohen

Brolin and Dinklage were attached for years and had difficulties getting the film financed, but Barbakow joined at just the right time. "That's funny, because for me, I feel like it happened very, very quickly, which is maybe the trick, to just kind of jump on the train when it's already leaving the station," explains the director. "I knew Peter a little bit and was a huge fan of both those dudes, and got a script from him that Macon [Blair] wrote." Blair is famous for his work with Rebel Ridge director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room). Barbakow continued:

"I knew within the first page that I wanted to do it just because of the tone, vernacular, energy of this world, and seeing the characters that these guys are going to be playing, and how they were going to be subverting their personas. It was all just so enticing to me. So yeah, I jumped on, I think within the year we were shooting it. These things take time. You really have to dig for the right version of a story. The movie gods kind of have a logic of their own. I'm just thankful that it got sent to me, and I got to take part in it."

The Crazy Talented Cast Playing Crazy Characters

Audiences haven't seen Brendan Fraser in a comedic role like this since 1992's Encino Man, and Glenn Close shows a hilarious side to her that's miles away from her dramatic role in this year's The Deliverance. Barbakow credits his all-star cast with unleashing their comedy chops and fully committing to these zany, unhinged characters:

"We were lucky that we had a little bit of rehearsal on this movie. It was a lot of sitting around and talking shop, telling stories about our own families, and kind of figuring out who these people were, and where they came from. And honestly, it wasn't until we showed up on the day and started shooting that it really came to life, and these choices came into focus."

"I think everybody just kind of understood the deranged logic of this movie," continued Barbakow. "That's what was attractive to me. It is kind of an oddball, unexpected movie about an unexpected, oddball family. So you have these actors kind of subverting their personas and doing unexpected things. There was just a level of trust. Everybody was down to show up and play around. There's honestly not a lot of original comedies like this being made right now."

Working with CGI Orangutans & M. Emmet Walsh

Our conversation turned to the film's CGI primate scene-stealer. Motion capture actress Devyn Dalton gets big laughs playing Tomei's perverted orangutan, Samuel. It was even hilarious to learn from Brolin and Dinklage that SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actually required an intimacy coordinator for Samuel's lusty actions:

"Devyn Dalton is a genius. She was the performer who played Samuel. You direct it like you would any other scene with the help of an intimacy coordinator. We blocked it out, we figured it out, and it was even funnier and more strange than it is in the movie, because it was just Devyn in a motion capture suit giving an all-time performance."

"That was definitely strange. It was a really interesting process, creating the actual orangutan in post, because Devyn gave us so much with her face," adds Barbakow. "Then we actually kind of scored the scene with the sounds that Samuel was making, and animated the creature based on that, which helped us a lot with the comedy."

Barbakow had fond memories of working with M. Emmett Walsh, an actor most of us have been watching our entire lives. He explains the joy Walsh brought to the set, even though his health was obviously declining:

"That was maybe the most fun collectively we all had. He would make the set break, all of us, like multiple times. He was clear with me when he showed up that his memory wasn't as great as it used to be. So he was going to be relying on me to help him through it. And it just became like team sports with everybody. He gave $2 bills and his headshot to everybody too. It was such a beautiful experience. I'm so thankful we had him in the movie.

Brothers is currently available to stream on Prime Video. You can watch through the link below.