The filmmakers start following the Brothers soon after Delbert has been arrested and charged with killing his older brother William. Through various confessions and some questionable tactics by the police, Delbert has signed a confession and the circus has already started. Delbert steadfastly denies any involvement with the killing, and there's no way that you could imagine how such a calm and simple man could do something so violent.

The great thing about Brother's Keeper is the way that the film makes you feel so strongly for a family that are otherwise outcasts, even in their small farming community. Perhaps more importantly, the film shows how ridiculously the dumb the prosecuting attorneys and police officers are in deciding to pursue the case. Their case is amazingly thin, and almost a travesty with some of the suggestions about the circumstances of the murder. They go so far as to tastelessly suggest that the crime may have been a sex crime. The actions of the New York prosecutors are the ultimate example of wrong-headed hubris.

The brothers make for fascinating interviews. Virtually cut off socially and educationally, their viewpoints on the case are at once extremely naive and refreshingly honest. They make no attempt to hide their true emotions, or the fact that they cannot read. The other people in the surround community also are interesting to listen to. They acknowledge that the Ward brothers have never really fit in, but they rally around them all the same.

Brother's Keeper follows a strange subculture of America - a people who are seemingly lost in time. Only the camera is able to shine some light on their feelings and lives.

Movie Grade: A

Video: 3 out of 5
It was originally filmed in full format 16mm, so that's what you get here, albeit cleaned up for the DVD. There's some really beautiful images that are culled from the situation, but the point is to showcase the characters in the film.
Full Screen 1.33:1