Tom Cahill Chapter Summary

489 Words1 Page

Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is a U.S. Marine captain, about to embark on his fourth combat deployment. He is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), and he has two young daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). Sam's brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is being released from jail for an armed robbery, before Sam departs to Afghanistan in October 2007. Sam deploys and after a bit of time, news comes that Sam's Blackhawk helicopter has crashed during an operation in the Helmand Province, killing all of the Marines aboard. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger), have been taken prisoner in a mountain village by Taliban fighters. With Sam gone, Tommy attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family by wrangling old friends to help with kitchen repairs for Grace and the girls. Grace slowly sheds her previous resentment towards her brother-in-law. As months pass, Grace and Tommy bond over their mutual mourning, culminating in a passionate fireside kiss. They immediately regret it afterwards and do not take their attraction any further, though …show more content…

Once he returns home, Sam drifts through a cold, paranoid daze, showing signs of severe post-traumatic stress disorder, due to the traumatic events he experienced in Afghanistan. Refusing to explain to his family what happened while he was there, Sam also lies to Joe's widow that he does not know how Joe died. His paranoia also leads him to believe Tommy and Grace had a sexual relationship in his absence. During Maggie's birthday party at her grandparents' home, a resentful and jealous Isabelle claims that Sam's paranoid assumptions are true: That Tommy and Grace slept together. After the family returns home, Sam becomes enraged, destroying the newly remodeled kitchen with a crow bar and pulling a pistol on Tommy, who arrives and tries to calm his brother's violent

Open Document