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  • Adaptation Displacement: The movie is a remake of a 2004 Danish film of the same name. It's far more well-known than the original, especially given that it has three big name actors well-known to American and foreign audiences.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: When Isabelle witnesses her father's loud and violent outburst from upstairs, was she simply reacting in shock, or out of guilt for insulting him earlier? Possibly both, given Grace scolded her for her actions beforehand.
  • Award Snub: While Tobey Maguire was nominated for a Golden Globe for his intense acting in this film, it's such a shame that he wasn't even Academy Award-nominated, especially since this is arguably the best performance of his career.
  • He Really Can Act: Sam's emotional outburst in the kitchen is frequently considered one of Tobey Maguire's best acting.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The film starred Tobey Maguire, the actor best known for his portrayal of Marvel character Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy. His co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman would later join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Mysterio and Jane Foster respectively, a decade after the release of the movie. Maguire's incarnation of Spider-Man himself also crossed multiversal boundaries and appeared in the MCU, with Gyllenhaal's Mysterio also making a cameo via archive footage in the same film.
  • Jerkass Woobie: While Isabelle is indeed a horrible little brat towards her father at the end of the film, at the same time she is also frightened at how her father drastically changed when coming home (being much more distant, and angrier than before), and feels hurt and neglected that he missed her birthday (during his tour of duty, and time of imprisonment) not understanding why, and since she believes both her parents seem to favor her younger sister — all because of the attention her sister gets.
  • Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Isabelle is despised by viewers for her nasty behavior towards her father when he returns from his tour of duty. Meanwhile, the Afghans, though not beloved, are not as hated, even though they brutally tortured Sam and Joe and forced the former at gunpoint to beat the latter to death with a pipe. Possibly because the Afghans at least get killed by the military, whereas Isabelle (aside from being called out by her mother and having to deal with her father's PTSD for the remainder of her life) doesn't suffer much punishment.
  • Memetic Mutation: Due to Tobey's involvement, You can find at least one Spider Man-related comment in many movie clips. (for example, fans comparing Sam's breakdown as Tobey's reaction to his films being rebooted instead of continuing.) Jake Gyllenhaal's casting as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home only added fuel to the fire.
  • Narm: Tobey Maguire's high pitch screaming can be hard to take seriously. Combine that with him literally smashing the set apart during his breakdown.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • Sam and Joe being tortured in Afghanistan, especially when the former is ordered at gunpoint to kill the latter with a pipe, which he does.
    • Sam's outburst is horrifying as it is brutal. Not helping is when he attempts to shoot himself in front of the cops before reconsidering.
  • The Scrappy: Isabelle is the most despised character, even more so than the truly villainous Afghans, for coming off as very bratty towards her father, who just came back from war and flat-out saying in a callous manner that he should have died... which directly leads to Sam's breakdown in the climax. The fact that she doesn't suffer punishment (aside from the belief that she will now live with that guilt and the fact that her father suffers from PTSD) doesn't help either.
  • Signature Line: "YOU KNOW WHAT I DID?!".
  • Signature Scene: The most well-remembered part of this film is Sam smashing things in front of Grace, believing that she is having an affair with his brother Tommy.
  • Tear Jerker:
    • The fact that Isabelle is a total bitch to her father telling him that she wished that he stayed dead and that her mother loves his brother more than him (all during her younger sister's birthday dinner). Especially considering the fact that he practically went through hell and back as a prisoner of war (even being forced to kill his best friend in the process) just to return home to her (along with his wife and younger daughter).
    • Sam's meltdown. It's raw, intense, and uncomfortable, especially with everything that has piled up until that point. It's best summarized with three words: "I'm drowning, Tommy..." Even Isabelle, who lashed out at him earlier, is horrified and concerned.
  • Values Resonance: During its initial release (which can be seen on this page), most viewers did not take Maguire’s performance seriously as a veteran with PTSD, even seeing his breakdown at the end as comical because of his high-pitched voice. Since society is becoming more educated on mental illness, Sam’s mental breakdown is becoming harder to make fun of, making the original reactions seem pretty callous in hindsight.
  • The Woobie:
    • Both Sam and Joe are deployed to Afghanistan, only to be imprisoned by the enemy after their helicopter crashes (with their families thinking that they're dead). On top of that, Sam is given a Sadistic Choice to kill Joe or be killed himself, he reluctantly makes the choice to kill Joe to return to his family. Upon returning home, Sam becomes paranoid that his wife had an affair with his brother, and his young daughters resent him — especially Isabelle, who tells him that she wished that he stayed dead.
    • Maggie, who, like her older sister, is also terrified of how her father has changed drastically after the war. On top of that, her birthday dinner is ruined by her sister acting like a horrible brat the entire time, to the point where her sister's actions even lead to her father's scary outburst upon their return home.

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