Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm (Director: Terry Gilliam)

Gilliam has been gone awhile; his last film was 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The reason for his hiatus was documented nicely in Lost In La Mancha, the detailing of his failed attempt in adapting Don Quixote. Gilliam, of course, was once part of the Monty Python troupe and he directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as The Meaning of Life. Other notables include Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, and of course, many people's favorite, 12 Monkeys. Ehren Kruger's 3rd produced script of the year, following The Ring Two and The Skeleton Key.

This seems to be another rather troubled production. Actors signed on and then had to drop out. People were fired. Problems occurred and the production was set back months. MGM used to be the main studio behind it, then they pulled funds and the Weinsteins' Dimension stepped in at the last moment. Of course, most times when there are troubles offscreen, it shows up on film. This is no exception.

The story involves the famous brothers who adapted tons of fairy tales being swapped around in the early 19th Century in what was French-controlled, before-it-was-Germany. Like Shakespeare in Love, it shows that their everyday surroundings led to their inspiration. It fictionalizes the brothers as con artists, men who advertised themselves as those who could get rid of evil spirits, witches, and so forth. Wilhelm, "Will," (Matt Damon) loves the work, and Jakob, "Jake," (Heath Ledger) is beginning to have second thoughts. Before they can go to their next con, the French government has gotten wise to them and captures them, led by General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce, who worked with Gilliam on Brazil) and his lackey Cavaldi (Peter Stormare, in yet another role in which he plays some sort of villanous guy with an unplaceable accent). Delatombe wants the Brothers to find the cause of the disappearance of little girls in the woods, thought to be the work of another team similar to them. Of course, the work being done here is in fact supernatural. With the help of a tracker named Angelika (Lena Headey, whose most recognizable credit is Gossip and also stars in this weekend's The Cave), they try to solve the mystery.

The problem with this movie is that it fails to take you into fantasy. We all know that movies use sets, but this doesn't try to hide the fact. Kruger's script sloppily drops fairy tale and fable references in some half-ass attempt to show the influences the Grimms had in writing their stories. As visionary a director as Gilliam is, this is probably his least-interestingly told movie, despite the subject material--there's no sense of wonder, or horror, and when it comes to humor it has a hard time keeping any momentum. All of the actors are fine, they just aren't in a great story. And the sexy Monica Bellucci, who plays the movie's fantastical villain, is used all too briefly.

Once again, this probably was pretty good when it was pitched and when it was planned, but then too many cooks (like the Weinsteins) got a hold of it and strangled it of the fun that was left.