The Brothers Grimm: Gilliam Lite

There are a few things we know about director Terry Gilliam: he has a very dark twisted sense of humor; he likes historical accuracy, at least in sets and settings; his movies are always visually stunning; oh... and he almost always declares war on his production company. At least in these four regards, The Brothers Grimm does not disappoint.

The Brothers Grimm takes us to in French-occupied Germany in the 1700s, at the height of Napoleons conquests. Here we meet fictionalized versions of the children's authors, Jacob (Heath Ledger) and Wilhelm Grimm (Matt Damon), who in real life wrote the legendary Grimm's Fairy Tales. Jake a shy, somewhat bookish lad, collects the local folk tales which he and his brother, Will, then use to stage elaborate productions to con the locals. They are captured by a French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) and sent to debunk another con-game, escorted by an Italian torturer and assassin Cavaldi (Peter Stormare). A local trapper, Angelika (Lena Headey) escorts them to the Enchanted Forest, where Jake quickly realizes that the enchantment is real.

The movie is intended to be an adventure comedy, and was probably made as a summer blockbuster. For Gilliam, it has a surprisingly star studded cast, a decent 80 million budget, and gave him a chance to work with CGI. In all those regards it works.... okay.

Things were doomed from the start when in 2004, MGM unexpectedly pulled the funding. Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein stepped in for Miramax. Uncharacteristically, Gilliam settled for limited conflict with the Weinstein's, rather then going nuclear, probably because he was working on Tideland, and regarded The Brothers Grimm as a bit of a lost cause. The studio had far more say and guidance than is usual in a Gilliam opus. Limited war is still war, however, and the casualties mounted up:

- Nicole Kidman, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Williams and Johnny Depp were cast but had to pull out for various reasons
- Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein vetoed Terry Gilliam choice of Samantha Morton for Angelika
- Goran Bregovic was Terry Gilliam's original choice for composer, but was replaced by Dario Marianelli.
- Bob Weinstein fired cinematographer Nicola Pecorini
- Bob Weinstein and Terry Gilliam feuded over the final cut of the film. Gilliam put it on hold until he could do it his way, and it sat on the shelf for six months.

The result certainly looks like Gilliam's work. It has the incredible visuals and cinematography you have come to expect. Shot near Prague, it has the authentic sets and scenery he demands. While historically accurate, it contains futuristic gadgets and machinery mostly for comic effect. Played for laughs, it has many anachronisms like A Knights Tale. The characters shorten their names in modern style, for example. The leads play their roles well. Heath Ledger is almost unrecognizable as the wimp brother. Matt Damon is good, as usual. Unfortunately, Lena Headey falls a bit flat in the romantic lead, and makes one wonder if Gilliam's choice would not have been better. Jonathan Pryce and the lovely Monica Bellucci play well in supporting roles. While Peter Stormare does play Cavaldi well, that is like saying he played Jar-Jar Biggs well. He is irritating, unpleasant and annoying.

The Ehren Kruger script seems to have been written to include as many fairy tales or fairy tale characters as possible. I was not keeping notes, but I saw:

- Cinderella
- Hanzel and Gretel
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Rapunzel
- Sleeping Beauty.
- Snow White
- The Big Bad Wolf
- The Frog Prince
- The Gingerbread Man
- The Princess and the Pea

I am sure I missed many, for as normal with any of Gilliam's movies, it is jam packed with throw away lines and sight gags. Mind, I am not sure all of this should be credited to Kruger. Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni made so many changes to the script that they wanted to credit themselves as the screenwriters. This caused problems with the Writers Guild of America. Consequently, they gave themselves credit as Dress Pattern Makers, and on the interview circuit, they told everyone that they had used a dress pattern instead of a script. While sharing the credit, this also gives them a bigger share of the blame, because it is the script that lets this movie down. It is too bustling and full of detail. That makes it a confusing, and slows the action down.

The plot is simply too concerned with literary references and they forget to do character development. The story constantly pauses so the director can do gags, or the actors can explain their actions. The brothers even stop to chat several times during the big fight scene. The romance aspect is too foggy and does not quite work. The editing is too indulgent, and the result is bloated and long. This movie does not quite hit the mark. It is close, but a near miss is still a miss.

I really wish I could give The Brothers Grimm more than three stars, but even at that, I am being generous. I know from past experience with Gilliam movies like Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that I will see a lot more in it each time I watch, and that it will probably grow on me. For now, it does have good performances, it does have funny parts and the actions scenes are quite amusing at times. It is not Gilliam's best, but it is still worth seeing.


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DVD:

The DVD is good quality and watchable with all the usual stuff. The deleted scenes are of particular notice. By far the best scene in the movie ended up on the cutting room floor. Apparently, it worked out so well, that it made the rest of the movie seem anti-climactic and they had to cut it. This is wet IMHO. There was plenty of fat in the movie. They should have cut elsewhere.


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Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material. Runtime: 118 min

As you may remember, Grimm's Fairy tales, although humorous, are full of gore and mayhem. So is this movie. There are parts that are way too scary for children. Unless you enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night, I suggest you keep this one for adolescents.


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The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Directed by Terry Gilliam
Written by Ehren Kruger
Dress Pattern Makers: Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni

Cast:
Matt Damon - Wilhelm Grimm
Heath Ledger - Jacob Grimm
Peter Stormare - Cavaldi
Jonathan Pryce - Delatombe
Lena Headey - Angelika
Tomás Hanák - Woodsman
Monica Bellucci - Mirror Queen


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