By By Michael Gleason
Ex-Monty Python member/director Terry Gilliam has transferred his unique visual style to the fantasy genre, turning out the fairy-tale-based The Brothers Grimm. Gilliam’s movies tend to be either brilliant or at least fascinating experiments, and Brothers Grimm tends to be more of the latter than the former. However, at its core, Brothers Grimm is an entertaining, if inconsistent, moviem that uses fantastic visuals to hold the audience’s attention.
The movie follows the exploits of the aforementioned brothers (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger); tricksters who use special effects to con money from townsfolk in the German countryside. The brothers fake hauntings, then charge princely fees to exorcise the demons, witches and other supernatural bogeymen. A French general (Jonathan Pryce), who has occupied the land, catches wind of their exterminating frauds. He decides to send them to catch similar magical con men terrorizing a small town. The brothers are to be accompanied, of course, by a contingent of French soldiers, so as to prevent any escape attempts. The Grimm brothers, however, quickly discover all is not as it seems in the eerie, enchanted forest surrounding the town.
The movie, in a very unusual move for our times, makes the choice to eschew excessive computer-generated graphics in favor of innovative set design and props. The result is a film that feels a great deal more real than the current fantasy fare. Those who have seen Gilliam’s prior works will find nothing too shocking here, as he remains pretty close to his previously-established form.
The performances are decidedly mixed. Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Lena Headey (as the love interest Angelika) all do a respectable job with the material presented them. However, the overacting of certain members of the cast (Monica Bellucci and Peter Stormare in particular) hurts the flow of the film. Stormare’s over-the-top accent will either amuse or grate, depending on your opinion of such things. Jonathan Pryce and Peter Stormare’s characters are foreign caricatures. This is funny at times, but wears after a while.
The story, unfortunately, has its share of problems. The film sometimes goes a bit too far to encompass most of the familiar fairy tales. The tone of the movie flips around too wildly. The film seems schizophrenic, seemingly unable to decide whether to be a comedy, fantasy or adventure movie. An amusing scene follows a dark scene, which follows a touching scene and goes back to a dark scene again. It’s a bit too intense for the younger viewers, who would be, in theory, the ones most drawn to a movie featuring famous children’s stories. Why a film would alienate what would be its core audience is an odd decision, but Gilliam is well-known for not considering the financial aspect of moviemaking. This is simultaneously his biggest strength and his most fundamental flaw.
When the film does work, it successfully captures the audience’s imagination and transports them to a mythical land. Those moments are too few and far between to qualify it as a great movie, but there are enough of these moments to avoid consigning Brothers Grimm to the scrap heap.
Final Grade: C
Heath Ledger and Matt Damon star in Brothers Grimm, which relies on visuals for thrills. (Image courtesy cinema.com)