Plot: McConaughey and Harrelson play fictionalized versions of themselves, and whose lifelong friendship is thrown into chaos when they uncover a decades-old secret: they might actually be brothers. After Woody’s daughter’s wedding falls apart, he loads up the family and heads to Austin for an extended stay at Matthew’s ranch. But what begins as a healing getaway quickly spirals when Matthew’s mother, Ma Mac, accidentally lets slip a long-buried secret that the two friends might actually be brothers. As Woody turns the ranch upside down in pursuit of the truth, Matthew finds himself juggling an entirely different identity crisis: a potential run for Governor of Texas. The result is a heartfelt, chaotic and wildly funny story about friendship, family, fame and the messy line between myth and reality.
Review: Time is a flat circle. Since they initially met on the set of Ron Howard’s 1999 film EDTv, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have shared a friendship spanning three decades. While they have collaborated as producers behind the scenes on various projects, after EDTv, the two actors have also co-starred in the indie stoner comedy Surfer, Dude, and the acclaimed first season of HBO’s True Detective. Now, McConaughey and Harrelson have co-created the new Apple TV comedy Brothers, which fictionalizes themselves and the rumor that they may actually be half-siblings. The eight-episode, half-hour comedy blends elements of their real personalities and the long-bandied-about possibility of Matthew McConaughey running for Governor of Texas into a funny, meta series about two best friends who could not be more dissimilar and alike at the same time. Brothers is a vanity project that is not afraid to mock its two leads and their pop-culture presence while also offering a humorous reminder of the importance of family and friendship.
Brothers opens with Woody Harrelson taking his wife, Joy (Brittany Ishibashi), and their two daughters, Olive (Highdee Kuan) and Kai (Oona Yaffe), on a road trip to visit Woody’s best friend, Matthew McConaughey. Woody is trying to avoid dealing with Olive’s break-up with her fiancee and the female challenges in his household, but the trip comes at an inopportune time as Matthew is trying to write a speech to honor his late father at a local high school ceremony. The best friends squabble mildly in a playful way as they deal with family stuff, including Matthew’s heavy-drinking mother, Ma Mac (Holland Taylor). While Matthew’s wife, Valentina (Natalie Martinez) and their kids Wyatt (Nolan Almeida), River (Noah Carganilla), and Clara (Ella Grace Helton), are accomodating of the visiting Harrelson clan, things get complicated when Matthew decide to run for governor of Texas while Woody learns from a drunken Ma Mac that she had sex with Woody’s dad, Clive, around the time Matthew was conceived. The series then revolves around Woody trying to secretly learn the truth without disrupting his best friend’s burgeoning political career.
The eight-episode first season (the finale clearly teases that this is meant to be an ongoing series) is a mixed bag with a good heart. The dynamic between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is as fun to watch as they play slightly fictionalized versions of themselves while poking fun at the very real rumor of their potential shared lineage, as well as regular hints that McConaughey may someday consider political office. The two have a lot of fun poking fun at elements of their individual celebrity and their famed traits. Woody mocks his own vegan beliefs and his activism for legal marijuana, while Matthew McConaughey jokes about his history with romantic comedy roles and his famed chest thump from The Wolf of Wall Street. Both actors have fun with the idea of their closeness being genetic, but the series works best when McConaughey plays the straight man to Woody’s wackiness. At times, the pair channel the dynamic between Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid from the Vacation franchise, but without the animosity. Brothers has a down-home and folksy Texas charm to it when the two actors are cut loose rather than embarking on sitcom subplots, which pervade the middle episodes of this season.
There are some fun supporting appearances from Skylar Gisondo, Dax Shepard, as well as name drops for Tom Cruise, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, as and references to films Woody and Matthew have starred in, including Venom and Interstellar. The best supporting player in the cast outside of the families falls to comedian Lisa Gilroy as McConaughey’s campaign manager, Gwen Hillcrest Barnes-Davies, who gives everyone in the cast a hard time and delivers some memorable insults. The campaign and DNA plots are the most fun in the story, and you can tell some other chapters were added during the refining of the series during production. For some reason, there are episodes centered on school dances, Valentine’s Day, and even an undercover coffee shop musical performance. Remember how I said some elements reminded me of National Lampoon’s Vacation? There is even an episode involving a septic tank that is lifted almost straight from Christmas Vacation. Many of these plots feel straight out of formulaic sitcoms from network television shows of a bygone era and drag down the better plots of this series.
Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey share co-creator credits on the series and a story credit on the pilot with original showrunner David West Read and Lee Eisenberg. Eisenberg took over as showrunner from Read and is best known for his projects with co-writer Gene Stupinsky, including Year One, Bad Teacher, Good Boys, and the series Jury Duty. Eisenberg wrote four episodes along with Mike Jones, Nick Sherman, Brett Baer, David Finkel, Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Alex Cuthbertson, and Matt Fusfeld, with directing duties falling to Trent O’Donnell (Hacks) on five episodes, Erin O’Malley on two, and Jason Winer on one. The series makes good use of the Texas setting and you feel like it may actually be a documentary-like take on the reall McConaughey and Harrelson dynamic until the series goes into some strangely cliche places. But, even when you think you know where the series is headed, it is still a lot of fun thanks to Matthew and Woody channeling the energy that has made them so beloved by fans around the world. Whether they are actually like the fictional versions of themselves we see in this series or not, Brothers benefits from them being so damn likable.
Brothers feels like a vanity project done right and is yet another Apple TV comedy that tugs at the right emotional heartstrings, making you care about the characters while also giving us a sentimental and motivational series about the meaning of family and love. The ending of the season felt a little rushed compared to the laid-back pacing of the earlier episodes in the series, but where a second season could head may depend on how much people enjoy Matthew and Woody playing McConaughey and Harrelson. Outside of True Detective, Brothers is my favorite on-screen pairing for these two best friends, and while we may never learn the truth behind their potential genetic connections, this series offers a fun what-if scenario. Brothers is funny and fun, even if it at times squanders its potential with familiar tropes and storylines. Still, the series is better than just alright, alright, alright, but it is not quite as good as it could be.
Brothers premieres on September 23rd on Apple TV.