Brothers Grimm

Entertainment Value:    Technical Quality:

Gilliam serves up a carnival of sights and sounds, alongside an amusing, fantastical plot. But sights and sounds are pretty much all there is to a film whose characters are grimly flat and familiar. Heath Ledger, at least, gets to show off his versatility as an actor.

Pre-Review

Gilliam’s last film, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” was an ambiguous success among critics and fans. My own take: definitely funny and zany, but also repetitive and too meandering for its own good. It the kind of film that, having been experience once, doesn’t really need to be experienced ever again.

This if, of course, atypical of Gilliam’s films, all of which -with the controversial exception of “Brazil”, but that’s a topic for another time - are eminently re-watchable. So it’s about time we get another film by Terry Gilliam, especially one that pays a bit more attention to character and plot.

It has to be said, though, that Gilliam is an unlucky man. His Don Quixote film fell apart, and he had to struggle to get “Brothers Grimm” together. From casting and special effects issues to dealing with the studio and a lack of promotional hoopla, things got bad enough that he took a break from the fantasy fairy tale to direct his adaptation of Mitch Cullins’ book surreal childhood fantasy “Tideland” before returning to the “Brothers Grimm.” But Gilliam is also a man with determination, enough to finally get “Brothers Grimm” off the ground and into theatres. Heath Ledger and Matt Damon guarantee likeable protagonists, while the story promises enough of the subversive cheekiness that made Gilliam’s past fantasy efforts so delectably wicked. And the visuals, of course, can’t be anything other than top-notch given that Gilliam easily stands alongside the likes of visionary directors such as Tim Burton.

We’ve been waiting with bated breath, hoping for a dose of originality in Hollywood “Betwitched” brain…here it is…

Review

In Terry Gilliam’s lushly shot fairy tale, the brothers Grimm are folk-tale-collecting, witch-hunting con men. When they get caught for hookwinking yet another small town, a French general served up with too much ham by Jonathan Pryce makes them a deal. In exchange for being pardoned, they have to track down nine missing girls from the village of Marbaden and, with the help of a moderately deranged Italian mercenary (Stormare), capture the villains responsible. In typical “X-Files” fashion, the brothers are more or less divided into the cynical realist – Wilhelm (straightlaced Matt Damon) – and the dreaming believer – Jacob (a nicely exuberant Ledger). Keeping in the same vein, the explanation for the disappearances in a dark, gloomy forest turns out to be, of course, supernatural, taking the form of a queen played with sultry narcissism by Monica Belucci. It’s a good thing this is fantasy and not science-fiction, or this would be yet more proof of the Hollywood principle that the naïve and fantastic trumps the smart and realistic.

If it seems like the production design borrows a bit too much from Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow”, at least Gilliam’s rich sense of style is intact. From the costumes to the overall atmosphere of menace, Gilliam creates in “Brothers Grimm” a sinister aesthetic that embodies perfectly the dark spirit of fairy tales. But where Gilliam really earns forgiveness for aping Burton is in the imagination he puts into staging incredible special effects-enhanced scenes such as the children’s disappearances. Although the seemingly random means in which the little tykes are kidnapped have less to do with the requirements of the story than they do with Gilliam having a bit of ghastly fun, there’s no denying their creepy, unsettling effectiveness. Gilliam must have been smoking something when he hoped “Brothers Grimm” would get a PG rating.

For all the film’s fantasy-laden plot and eye-candy spectacle, however, “Brothers Grimm” is weakest in its characters, all of whom end up swimming with clichés. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger’s villains are either cartoonish, as in the case of General Delatombe, or visual extravagances that, while dazzling, have only the barest hint of character. Even the brothers themselves, though gamely played (particularly by Heath Ledger), fail to achieve any lasting impression. They are, in the end, the kind of characters who don’t so much affect the plot, but get dragged along by it. And the psychology underlying their relationship is simply the familiar sibling rivalry that predictably resolves itself into brotherly love.

Without well-crafted characters, even the most imaginative enterprise will barely get out of the starting gate before coming to a halt. In this respect, “Brothers Grimm” could have taken more inspiration from its sibling in fantasy, “Sleepy Hollow,” which succeeded in creating a memorable protagonist with enough depth to hold up to the fantastical plot. Still, “Brothers Grimm” has enough to amuse and disturb, along with plenty of Gilliam’s wonderfully unsentimental and occasionally vicious wit. It’s not the most significant fantasy film to come out in recent years, and it's certainly not up to par with the best of Gilliam’s work. But it packs sufficient punch for a couple of hours of grimly comic fun.

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Dimension Films presents a film directed by Terry Gilliam. Written by Ehren Kruger. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material).

Wilhelm Grimm: Matt Damon
Jacob Grimm: Heath Ledger
Delatombe: Jonathan Pryce
Angelika: Lena Headey
Cavaldi: Peter Stormare
Mirror Queen: Monica Bellucci
Mother Grimm: Barbara Lukesova
Sister Grimm: Anna Rust