“The Brothers Grimm” left me with the impression I saw only a portion of what Gilliam wanted me to see and an equal portion of what a studio wanted served up to an audience. That uncomfortable mix wound up making “The Brothers Grimm” feel like the least Gilliam-ish film of the director’s career. It also left me a bit confused as to what to make of Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm.”
The Story
Gilliam’s “Grimm” takes the audience on a series of adventures with Will (Matt Damon) and Jacob Grimm (Heath Ledger), in this twisted take that’s very loosely based on the legendary authors of all those classic fairytales that both enchanted and spooked us as children. After briefly showing the two Grimm brothers as kids arguing over the purchase of magic beans, the film immediately progresses to the brothers grown-up and now self-proclaimed experts on wicked witches and other creepy things.
Will – the lover and realist – and Jacob – the dreamer – convince townships they know how to rid their little communities of demons and other unearthly pests. That they are actually hired to get rid of unwanted supernatural beasties at a fairly steep price shows how persuasive they can be. Of course it turns out the creatures they are hired to destroy are actually props they’ve created to make the townsfolk part with their money, enriching the brothers while helping build up their almost mythical reputation as do-gooders.
The buzz surrounding their ability to vanquish trolls and whatnot eventually leads them afoul of the authorities. French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) rules over the German countryside with an iron hand and despises the Grimm Brothers and their trade. But he finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to call on the two for help. It seems the countryside is cursed and pretty young maidens are disappearing at an alarming rate. The Grimms are given their toughest assignment to date: enter the cursed forest and rescue the maidens. And this time the things that go bump in the night really do fight back.
The sexy and alluring Monica Bellucci co-stars as an evil queen trapped high in a tower. Peter Stormare totally camps it up as Jonathan Pryce’s psychotic henchman.
The Gilliam Touch
For everything unique and visually attractive about the film, there were equal parts crammed with just too much random stuff – for lack of a better word. And so much of what Gilliam tossed into the pot didn’t go with the other ingredients. I’m still not sure why a creature who looked like the Gingerbread Man but was clearly made of mud, crawled out of a well and attacked a poor kid. There’s also a mirror that changes powers for no reason, characters that appear and just as quickly disappear without contributing to the story, and really lousy CGI effects.
If you don’t consider the CGI, visually “The Brothers Grimm” is stunningly beautiful and just what you’d expect from the man behind “Twelve Monkeys” and “Brazil.”
To Sum It Up
The acting was first-rate and I liked the pairing of Damon and Ledger. But the movie never got me involved. It never grabbed me and it didn’t stay with me after I exited the theater - and that’s a first for a Gilliam film.
GRADE: C+
"The Brothers Grimm" was directed by Terry Gilliam and is rated PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material.
