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The Brothers Grimm seemed to be two separate (though somewhat related) films—so I’ll cover them separately.
Part One is an action/comedy/thriller—a bit like The Princess Bride, only a lot darker (and maybe just a little bit scarier). Here, we meet Will (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger), the Brothers Grimm. Lauded throughout French-occupied Germany as the killers of witches and trolls and other things that go bump in the night, the brothers are just a couple of con artists, traveling with their assistants and making loads of money off the fears of superstitious commoners. But one day they’re captured by the French and sent to a village where, the French are convinced, similar con artists have been plaguing the townspeople by kidnapping young girls in the neighboring forest. If (and only if) Will and Jacob stop their fellow con artists, the French will refrain from executing them for their crimes.
So Will and Jacob travel to the village, closely guarded by the French general’s man, Cavaldi (Peter Stormare). They’re guided into the forest by the beautiful Angelika (Lena Headey), and they discover that either their fellow con artists are really good or the forest is really enchanted.
Then comes Part Two. It’s less comedy and more thriller. The laughs are cut short as children are swallowed whole by enchanted horses (and, in a particularly bizarre scene, sucked up by a blobby gingerbread man) and the brothers are chased by a mystical wolf. And while Will is still convinced that there’s just another trickster behind the whole “enchanted forest” scam, Jacob uses his knowledge of folklore to figure out the real problem.
I really enjoyed Part One of The Brothers Grimm. It’s an odd mix of genres that somehow works. Actually, I liked some of Part Two as well. I just didn’t really like them put together all that much.
Director Terry Gilliam, originally known for his part in the British comedy troupe, Monty Python, has gone on to create a number of surreal films, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve Monkeys, and Brazil (which I’m still trying to figure out). In The Brothers Grimm, he borrows quite heavily from Tim Burton. In fact, it’s hard to miss its similarities to Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. And in the beginning, it’s not bad at all. It’s dark and scary, but it’s funny, too—and Damon and Ledger have a great brotherly chemistry. But once the movie hits Part Two, the comedy all but falls away, things get a little bit weirder, and the story makes less sense. The Brothers Grimm is an interesting film with some pretty impressive effects thrown in, but it’s far from a must-see. Don’t feel bad if you pass it up at the video store.
And, finally, don’t be fooled into thinking that this story about the famous fairy-tale writers is a kids’ movie. It’s not—and the kids who sat a couple of rows ahead of me in the theater will probably have nightmares for years because of it.
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