Click Here For Our Interview with Matt Damon

Click Here For Our Interview with Heath Ledger

The Brothers Grimm

Check out Paul's website:
www.TheCareerCookBook.com

Director Terry Gilliam helms The Brothers Grimm, a film about two con artist brothers Will (Matt Damon) and Jake (Heath Ledger), forced to defeat an enchanted forest whose very real monsters are claiming the town's innocent young girls. Gilliam is a master of creating unique worlds and he does so once again in infusing the right amount of humor and fairy tale scares for his actors to work with.

Will and Jake are very different people as brothers but somehow come together to con people out of their money. Will is the brain behind the operation where Jake seems to appease his brother and himself by imaging what real life adventures could be like fixating on the fairy tales and "magic beans" he enjoyed as a child. He is open to the fantasy that they offer him as the more unsure and bookish of the two brothers. Damon continues choosing diverse roles, which must be challenging as an actor, and allows him to work different acting muscles whether in comedies, dramas, or action films. His teaming up with Ledger forms a solid partnership. Ledger nicely portrays the weaker brother who when faced with dire situations finds out just how brave he can be. Together the brothers must use their vivid imaginations to help the town get their children back.

Peter Stormare continues to be a scene stealer. He is able to create quirky characters that force you to watch them and believe their eccentricities. The first time I noticed him was as the extremely quiet murderous lunatic in Fargo. He has real stage presence as further evidenced in roles in The Big Lebowski and Chocolat. In The Brothers Grimm his character Cavaldi, an interrogation artist who looks after the brothers, is part fear inducing and part fearful. Stormare adds the most humorous elements to the film in his evil and bumbling actions.

Lena Headey plays the role of Angelika, the tough guy part but in the body of a pretty woman. She is a townsperson who knows of the enchanted powers of the forest and wishes to find where the young have disappeared to. Headey is able to embody the rough around the edges Angelika who fends for herself, but could use a helping hand in saving her town. Not that she would admit to it.

The well developed story from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Gilliam's attention to detail as director, create the fantasy in front of us. That's not to take away from the acting, which is solid, but the fairy tale elements make the film one to see. Very few filmmakers build worlds as distinct as Monty Python alum Gilliam, maybe Tim Burton is in the same company. Gilliam

has the ability to take something that is clearly otherworldly and as if through magic, make us believe in a tongue and cheek way, with humor always spiking the fantasy cocktail. Look at his films The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Time Bandits, and 12 Monkeys for evidence. Even the pop-up animated scenes which appear in Monty Python And The Holy Grail attest to his brilliance as a story teller. It's all in the details. He takes Kruger's story of con men that are forced to help the same types of people they have been scamming, by tackling the same evils they have been pretending to vanquish. This is a great set up along with the back-story inherent in the dark fairy tales that the Brothers Grimm are associated with. It's as though Gilliam was given an unending canvas and all the paint in the world to work with. You can see it in the forest, the monsters that inhabit it, and also in the retelling of the Grimm's tales.

The Brothers Grimm is a nice escape from our everyday reality. We get to experience a well developed story where you are interested to see how it concludes. Will they save the town? It contains a good amount of humor and action with strong actors in the roles on screen. Most importantly it is great to see Terry Gilliam back and taking us on a new exploration.

Movie Grade: B+

Synopsis:

Brothers Jake and Will Grimm, renowned collectors of folklore, have made a career out of traveling from village to village pretending to rid them of “enchanted” creatures. Their bluff is called, however, when they are forced by Napoleon’s French government to investigate a haunted forest where girls have been disappearing mysteriously. What they discover leads to a series of adventures involving an actual evil (and immortal) sorceress that mirrors that of mythology and the fables that the Brothers Grimm would eventually become famous for.