The Brothers Grimm (26 August 2005)
directed by Terry Gilliam
starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Mackenzie Crook, Richard Ridings, Laura Greenwood, Monica Bellucci, Harry Gilliam
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MPAA rating: Studio: Mosaic Media Group, Dimension Films, Summit Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, Reforma Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Script: Ehren Kruger Music: Dario Marianelli Running time: 118 minutes Tags: 1790s; Action; brothers; Comedy; curses; Fantasy; forests; horses; magic; Thriller Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material
Will and Jacob Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) run a business eliminating spooks and other nasty creatures. They arrive in the afflicted town, make a show of investigating the unusual phenomena, and make a bid to eliminate the unpleasant presence. At least, that's the story they would tell their mother. In reality, the brothers create the disturbances themselves with the help of their henchmen Hidlick (Mackenzie Crook) and Bunst (Richard Ridings), and they orchestsrate a spectacular production eliminating the manufactured menace.
The Grimms make a decent living as confidence men, preying on the superstitions of poor eighteenth century villagers. Will comes up with scientific inventions to present the appearance of specters and such, while Jacob carefully catalogs the local lore about hauntings and mystical events. At least until French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) discovers their deceits and conscripts the Grimms to investigate missing maidens from a recently occupied German city, now a part of Napoleonic France. Since the General doesn't trust the Grimms, he puts them in the charge of Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), a renowned Italian torturer who for some reason serves the French army. In most Terry Gilliam movies, you can expect some sort of strange technology or devices, and Cavaldi has very unique methods and devices for torturing individuals. The Grimms approach their new job assuming that another conniver has kidnapped the missing girls, but as strange events compound, Jacob becomes sure that the mystery surrounding the missing girls emanates from ancient witchcraft coming to light in the enchanted forest.
You wouldn't call The Brothers Grimm a retelling of the well-known fairy tales. Rather, the film takes its premise from the tone and magical elements inherent in the Grimms' stories, and creates a comic romp with the speculation that the brothers recorded history rather than fiction. But in the midst of the comedy, you get a stark contrast with the realistic village settings. The peasants live in filth and squalor. The filth bothers the audience, but the indiginous residents don't even seem to notice that they might need a bath.
Both Damon and Ledger clearly have fun with their roles, and Stormare has too much fun with his role. You get a lot of laughs along with the cast, but every once in a while you feel that the brothers have made just one to many trips into and out of the enchanted forest -- like the editor could have done just a bit more work to improve the flow toward the end. Expect to laugh, but you shouldn't expect comedy on the order of Gilliam's Monty Python days.
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