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The Brothers Bloom (2007)

Director: Rian Johnson

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Synopsis

The new movie from the director of neo-noir highschooler, 'Brick'.

Movie review

From Time Out Online

For his first film 'Brick', writer-director Rian Johnson successfully created an unlikely marriage of two distinct and distinctive genres, film noir and the teen movie, by setting a slow-burning detective story in an American high school. 'The Brothers Bloom' is a similar mash-up of styles, ostensibly a slick con man movie but built as a Wes Anderson-like screwball comedy with a soft rom-com centre. And for the most part, this playful manipulation of recognised cinematic conventions makes for a fresh and funny approach to storytelling.

Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are Stephen and Bloom, orphaned brothers who have spent their lives moving from foster home to foster home, town to town ripping off the locals with elaborately plotted stings. Now in his thirties, Bloom is weary of playing characters in his older brother's theatre of deception and longs for 'an unwritten life' so he can experience something real for a change. But before he retires, Stephen persuades him to take part in one last scam. This involves Bloom seducing lonely, eccentric millionairess Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz, a revelation as a comic actress) into accompanying the brothers on a wild goose chase across eastern Europe, allowing them to relieve her of her money along the way.

For the first hour or so their adventure zips along in a highly entertaining manner, packed with inventive visual gags and a gaggle of bizarre supporting characters (Robbie Coltrane is hilarious as a Belgian antiques smuggler), and these quirky elements are tempered by some genuinely touching moments as Bloom and Penelope begin to fall for each other. But are they really in love or is this just another layer of charade? After a few too many plot twists and false endings, it's hard to tell, so when the 'truth' is finally revealed, any compassion invested in these players has evaporated into a mist of indifference.

But 'The Brothers Bloom' is redeemed by enough wit and imagination to suggest that, with a little more focus, Johnson will go on to make highly enjoyable and distinctive work.

Author: Sarah Cohen 2008-10-28 16:49:53

Time Out Online