A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Brothers Grimm

Date Viewed: 8/27/05

Details:

Matt Damon

Heath Ledger

Peter Stormare

Jonathan Pryce

Lena Headey

Monica Bellucci

Deborah Hyde

Director: Terry Gilliam

Score: 0

The Review: A campy, off-kilter pastiche of the stories of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, stirred and shaken in a satirical pot with a good measure of an 18th- or 19th-century con job.

Roving a war-torn countryside (remarkably like the Alsace) with two co-conspirators, the brothers Grimm (Damon and Ledger) use their knowledge of folklore and some peculiar talents to grift out an income by bilking towns with ghostly manifestations or demonic husbandry. Until they get caught at it (apologies for Tom Lehrer), and encounter what appears to be an even larger con.

Over-the-top acting makes this seem more a parody, but of what, I'm not quite sure. The only one who seems comfortable in her role is Headey as the huntress Angelika. Both Stormare as the marginally sane guard send to accompany them on their tasks, and Pryce as the French commander who catches them and dictates their future, are caricatures in the extreme. Some of the special effects are, however, watchable -- particularly the witch and mirror Queen.

At times strangely familiar, as if an old family tale, and at other times oddly daft -- incongruity and disjunction pervades the movie. And in this case, not to its favor. The director, Terry Gilliam, has done a number of bizarre and idiosyncratic films which I rank quite highly -- e.g., Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil, and The Fisher King -- and a few that I liked (and may even own) but were odd enough or daft enough that I cannot praise them without qualification -- e.g., 12 Monkeys, and Time Bandits. The Brothers Grimm more closely associates with the second lot than the first, and alas, maybe a bit farther from recommendation.

(28-Aug-05)

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