“Half Brothers” Trailer Teases an International Road Trip

Whether it's Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or Due Date, there's always another wrinkle to add to the concept of an uptight businessman taking a road trip with a loud free spirit. The promise of big laughs and heartfelt moments never goes away.

In Half Brothers, there's now an international take on the concept. Renato (Luis Gerardo Méndez) is a successful Mexican aviation executive who gets a call that the father who left when he was a kid is gravely ill. So he flies to the United States to reunite with his dad, only to learn he's got a screw-up half brother named Asher (Connor Del Rio). Of course, their father wants them to take a road trip to bond, and of course, there's a scavenger hunt for them to learn all the secrets he kept from both his sons.

Aside from Never Rarely Sometimes Always, this is right in line with the lighter slate Focus Features has had this year, which included Emma, The High Note and Irresistible. And lord knows we could all use some more laughs in 2020.

Half Brothers will have a limited release beginning December 4.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.