The Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm

Not The Usual Fairy Tale

Renowned director/screenwriter, Terry Gilliam, brought the tale, featuring the two legendary authors, Jacob (Heath Ledger) and Wilhelm (Matt Damon) Grimm, to the screen in 2005’s “The Brothers Grimm”.

The movie starts by introducing us to the brothers as young children in the late 1700s when it’s discovered that Jacob, (played by Jeremy Robson in this scene) has sold the family’s cow for a handful of magic beans. Several years later the two brothers have grown into men who travel from town to town throughout Germany getting rid of unsavory creatures who seem to be plaguing the towns. However, it’s soon realized that the pair, along with a couple of friends, are con artists who have constructed everything from the evil characters (in one case a witch) to the elaborate “rescue” of the town.

Napoleon’s General, Delatombe, (Jonathan Pryce) is not pleased. When he threatens to execute the two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm have no choice but to travel to Marbaden and solve the mystery behind the disappearance of several of the village’s children. With Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), one of Delatombe’s henchmen, to keep an eye on them, the brothers meet Angelika (Lena Headley), who agrees to escort them into the nearby forest. The group soon finds the tower that legend says is home to the Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci) and who has great powers over the forest. But is the legend true? What other secrets does the forest hold and how do they connect to the disappearance of the children?

Terry Gilliam has directed and/or co-wrote a number of films including “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1998), “Brazil” (1985), “Time Bandits” (1981) and several of the Monty Python features. “The Brothers Grimm” was one of those films that I had high hopes for and really wanted to like it a lot. However, the movie, while good in some parts, seems to be lacking in others.

There were two things I especially liked about “The Brothers Grimm”. The film was visually appealing. The way it was shot was reminiscent of “Sleepy Hollow”. I also liked the way that familiar stories from the Grimm brothers were incorporated into the movie; for example “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Little Red Riding Hood” and a little bit of “Hansel and Gretel”.

The idea of the two Grimm brothers as con artists traveling from town to town, swindling people out of their money by exorcising fake creatures, until they come across the real thing was great. Unfortunately, the movie seems to stray from this and eventually gets scattered in several directions with the brothers in situations with Delatombe, Cavaldi and the Mirror Queen as well as a side story about Angelika and her family. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself exhausted from trying to keep up with everything that’s going on! (You wouldn’t believe how hard it was coming up with the movie summary above!)

I did like Heath Ledger’s and Matt Damon’s take on the two brothers. But I felt that the characters could have been developed more. We really don’t get to know a lot about them. Perhaps a little more insight into their backgrounds would have made the characters more compelling. Also the possible romance with Angelika just didn’t go anywhere.

While I have liked Jonathan Pryce’s and Peter Stormare’s previous works (Pryce was Governor Swann in “Pirates of the Caribbean” (2003) and Stormare appeared in “Chocolat” (2000) and “Armageddon” (1998)), I felt their characters were somewhat shallow, bordering on annoying. A lot of screen time also isn’t given to the evil Mirror Queen who is supposed to be the Grimm’s main opponent. Maybe without the Delatombe and Cavaldi side story, more time could have been spent on developing the character of the Mirror Queen, letting everyone know just how much of a menace she was.

“The Brothers Grimm” isn’t the worst movie to come out of Hollywood. But, unfortunately, it failed to grasp the opportunity to become a great one.

Movie mistakes on “The Brothers Grimm”.

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