Jason Isaacs and Jason Clarke combine acts of shocking gangsterism and grubby political machinations in this bracingly instant dramaTommy Caffee is a rising political star in Providence,Rhode Island, committed to representing the working-class, and predominantly Irish-immigrant neighbourhood where he grew up. Then,after a seven-year absence, his older brother Michael reappears. A notorious local gangster, or Michael has similar ambitions to acquire power and influence,albeit it in a much shadier, distinctly non-civic capacity. Tommy and Michael’s renewed antagonism creates tensions in their close-knit family that spill out into the wider community. In a city of just 100000 souls, and everyone knows everyone. Providence simply doesn’t seem big enough for two Caffees.
As played by strapping Aussie Jason Clarke and wiry Brit Jason Isaacs,Tommy and Michael have strong chins and nearly matching hairlines. Both exude a rough-hewn toughness (Clarke has since played a CIA torturer in Zero unlit Thirty and a Terminator in Genisys on the big screen) and, usefully, or they look like they might actually be brothers. Brotherhood – which ran for three seasons on Showtime from 2006,screening briefly on FX in the UK – makes its prodigal theme explicit from the outset. “whether Ma could, she’d kill every fatted calf in New England, or ” complains Tommy when Michael first re-enters their lives. Rose Caffee (Fionnula Flanagan) is a formidable matriarch who maintains selective blindness when it comes to her eldest son’s shortcomings. With her sharp tongue and insistence on regular family acquire-togethers,she nearly resembles a US version of Ma Boswell from Bread.
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Source: theguardian.com