''Brother's Keeper'' is a 2002 American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

John Badham John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an English television and film director, best known for his films ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), ''Dracula'' (1979), ''Blue Thunder'' (1983), ''WarGames'' (1983), ''Short Circuit'' (1986), and ...

and written by

Steven Baigelman Steven J. Baigelman is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and film director. He has written the screenplays for the crime dramedy '' Feeling Minnesota'' (1996), the television crime thriller '' Brother's Keeper'' (2002), the biographical drama ' ...

and Glenn Gers. The film stars

Jeanne Tripplehorn Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, acting in several plays throughout the early 1990s, including Anton Chekhov's '' Three Sisters'' on Broadway. Her film career began with the rol ...

as a former police investigator drawn to a series of serial killings in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

that may have been committed by her disturbed younger brother, played by

Corin Nemec Joseph Charles Nemec IV (born November 5, 1971), known professionally as Corin Nemec, is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He was billed as Corin "Corky" Nemec or Corky Nemec until 1990. Nemec is known for playing the title characte ...

Leland Orser Leland Jones Orser (born August 6, 1960) is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous film and television roles, notably as Lucien Dubenko in the television series '' ER'' (2004–2009) and Sam Gilroy in the '' Taken'' film series (2008–20 ...

and

Evan Parke Evan Dexter O'Neal Parke (born January 2, 1968) is a Jamaican-born American actor perhaps best known for his role as Hayes in ''King Kong''. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, he was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and then on Long Island. He atte ...

co-star. ''Brother's Keeper'' was produced by Trilogy Entertainment Group and

New Line Television New Line Television was the television production arm of the film studio of the same name. It was active for about 20 years from 1988 to 2008. History The company was founded in 1988 to produce ''Freddy's Nightmares'', a television series based ...

and filmed in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It aired in the United States on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

on January 29, 2002.

Plot

Highly intelligent, mentally disturbed career criminal Ellis Pond escapes from prison, runs through a forest, and successfully evades his pursuers. Ellis's older sister Lucinda, once the best homicide detective in the

Portland Police Bureau The Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. While oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City ...

, now runs a tackle shop from her houseboat. A burnt-out, depressed alcoholic, she is estranged from her husband Adam and young daughter Marcie, and tormented by nightmares of the event that got her removed from the force four years earlier: Her manhunt in Maris Creek for

child molester Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whether ...

and suspected serial killer Victor Orbin led to a

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

team gunning down an innocent man working at the site. Orbin, who was never at the scene, is presumed still at large. Ellis reappears in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, strangling and castrating Internal Affairs investigator Fred Tierney, who was responsible for Lucinda's removal. Detective Travis Adler recognizes Orbin's

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

and thinks the killer has resurfaced. He asks Lucinda to return to the force to head the case and track down Orbin for good, but she refuses, rattled when learning of Ellis's escape. Ellis kills an insurance salesman, puts on his clothes, drives to a house and murders the man who answers the door. Both men are strangled and castrated to

copycat Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else. Copycat may also refer to: Intellectual property rights * Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission * Patent infringement, a v ...

Orbin. Lucinda discovers that the house was her childhood home. She and Ellis were

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

d by their alcoholic father, long dead of an illness, and she always tried to take the brunt of it, swearing to always look after Ellis.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Special Agent Arthur Fortis, Junior, brought on the case as an advisor, answers a phone call to Lucinda from Ellis, who reveals details of the murders and demands his sister be put on the case. Lucinda finds a coded note from Ellis in the house's attic, revealing his apparent willingness to surrender to her that night. She figures out the location and stakes it out with Travis, Junior and their team. Ellis calls her, seemingly taunting her with riddles from their childhood, and his location is traced to a homeless shelter across the street. Everyone races there, but Lucinda realizes it is a setup. A booby trap in the room explodes, injuring Junior and killing several other officers. Ellis escapes and poses as a camper in

Crater Lake National Park Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of ...

, where he meets a boy named Kelly. Seeing that Kelly is being abused by his father, Ellis kidnaps him after murdering his father and tying up his mother. A clue at the house murder leads Lucinda to her father's old office. In the basement, she finds a skeleton in a refrigerator. As the team converges on the park, they learn that the skeleton is Victor Orbin's, and he was dead before the events at Maris Creek, having in fact been previously buried there. Lucinda realizes that Ellis committed all the murders, killed Orbin and framed him, believing that Lucinda would find the body, figure out Ellis was responsible, and come after him. The innocent worker's death was an unforeseen circumstance. With Lucinda pulled from duty and unable to protect Ellis, he was imprisoned on unrelated charges, which explains why "Orbin" stopped killing. Lucinda now knows that Ellis wants her to kill him, to spare her of always having to be her brother's keeper. She is determined to bring him in alive. As Lucinda and Junior search the forest, she is injured by one of Ellis's traps. Junior performs first aid and heads back to their SUV, where Ellis ambushes and stabs him. Lucinda finds Junior wounded but alive. She presses a

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

beacon on his wrist, alerting the team to their location, then finds Ellis holding Kelly at gunpoint. Ellis begs her to kill him, but she refuses, wounding him and letting Kelly run away. A police sniper fires at Ellis; Lucinda dives in front of the bullet, but it goes through her shoulder and into his chest. As Ellis dies in her arms, he says that he has been killing "just one person" – their father – and that "he kept coming back". Later, Travis drops Lucinda off at Adam's house, where she reconciles with him and Marcie.

Cast

as Lucinda Pond *

as Ellis Pond *

as Travis Adler *

as Junior * Brian Jensen as David Pond * Ben Cardinal as Running Bear *

Britt McKillip Britt Analisa McKillip (born January 18, 1991) is a Canadian actress and singer. Her credits include the film ''Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular'' and its sequel ''Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy'', and her role as Reggie Lass in th ...

as Young Lucinda / Marcie *

Cameron Bright Cameron Bright (born Cameron Douglas Crigger; January 26, 1993) is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in the films ''The Butterfly Effect'', '' Godsend'', ''Birth'', '' Running Scared'', ''Ultraviolet'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', ''Thank You for ...

as Young Ellis *

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

as Adam * William S. Taylor as Tierney *

Noel Callahan Noel Callahan is a Canadian actor who is best known for his roles as Louis Testaverde-Miller on the Nickelodeon show ''Romeo!'' In 2006, he voiced the character of Sage in an animated film starring Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12 ...

as Kelly

Production

The film began shooting in

on May 21, 2001, under the tentative title ''Breeders''.

References

External links

* {{John Badham 2002 television films 2002 films 2002 crime drama films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s police procedural films 2000s serial killer films American crime drama films American drama television films American police detective films American serial killer films Crime television films Fictional portrayals of the Portland Police Bureau Films about child abuse Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films about siblings Films directed by John Badham Films scored by John Ottman Films set in 2001 Films set in Portland, Oregon Films shot in Vancouver USA Network original films