“The Brothers Grimm” (Dimension Films)
Terry Gilliam has directed some unique and quirky movies in his day. “The Fisher King” and “Brazil” come quickly to mind. Those movies were above average in entertainment value. His latest, “The Brothers Grimm,” is not.
Heath Ledger and Matt Damon play Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the brothers of fairy tale fame. But in this movie they are charlatans who go around 19th century Germany professing to rid the country of witches and other evil spirits. They have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves and they are making a tidy profit.
But then one of the leaders of the French army that is occupying Germany sends for them. His name is Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) and he wants them to go to a village where children are disappearing and solve the mystery. If they don’t they will be killed. So they go.
There they find a forest that is enchanted in a bad sense. They also find a huge tower where legend has it a beautiful princess was kept. The brothers Grimm decide they have to scale the tower and solve the curse of the forest. They are assisted in all of this by a local village woman named Angelika (Lena Headey).
The special effects in the movie are okay, while the acting of Damon and Ledger is not. They do not make either of the brothers very interesting and the potential love interest generated by Headey and Ledger just fizzles. Pryce is mildly amusing as the military man but ultimately even he becomes boring.
Monica Bellucci is cast as the evil queen who ends up being the occupant of the tower. Her scenes at the end of the film are among the most interesting of them all or so says the mirror, mirror on the wall.
One of the problems with the film is its lack of identity. Is this supposed to be a comedy, a horror film, or a drama Who knows And when the movie is over you still don’t know.
The movie is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity.
Maybe this movie will develop a cult following like other films by Gilliam have done. But for the time being things are looking a little grim for “The Brothers Grimm.”
I scored “The Brothers Grimm” an unhappily ever after 5 out of 10.
