Movie Review: The Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm

When I was in high school, I participated in competitive speech (yes, I would rather have been a cheerleader, but I was significantly better at talking than at turning handsprings). My category was storytelling, and the book we used the first year I was on the team was a collection of fairytales. I loved it. The Brothers Grimm are, perhaps, the most famous tellers of fairy tales of all time. Although the stories we tell the littlest children are generally quite watered down and cleaned up to suit their tender years and ears, I couldn't wait to see The Brothers Grimm movie because, well, it had to have something to do with fairy tales, didn't it?

Will (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger) Grimm are two brothers who were born just before the start of the 19th Century. The pair travel around Europe in search of stories of hauntings or curses. Jacob takes not, but Will is more interested in making a living. For a price, they offer to rid villagers or persons of their problems. Of course, their price is high and the manifestations of the supernatural creatures involved is just a big con job on the parts of the brothers Grimm. Still, the pair have become famous in their wanderings and find themselves well received wherever they go.

At just about the same time, France has invaded and occupied Germany. It's only a matter of time before the brothers run afoul of the local French representative, General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce). Since fraud is punishable by death, the pair are doomed unless... The General, it seems, has something of a problem. There are stories coming out of a forest under his domain that just won't stop. He knows that the disppearance of village girls and the fright of their parents must be the results of some charlatans, and so he tells his very own captured charlatans that they can redeem themselves and earn a pardon if they uncover and stop the chicanery. When faced with the choice of death or helping the French, the brothers Grimm show their immediate enthusiasm for whatever chore the General might assign.

The General assigns a colorful (and almost certainly less than wholesome) sycophant by the name of Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) to keep an eye on the brothers Grimm, and he sends them off on their quest. When they arrive in the village, however, they find no one willing to help them until they coerce a local woman (Angelika, played by Lena Headey) to guide them into the forest to conduct a bit of reconnaissance. Once in the forest, Will is impressed by the quality of the con he perceives to be happening their. Jacob, meantime, isn't so sure there's a con there at all.

The Brothers Grimm has almost bottomless potential. It boasts good actors like Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. The director — Terry Gilliam — has both a sense of humor (witness his animation work for the Monty Python troupe) and the dramatic macabre (The Twelve Monkeys). I'm one of the few who actually even enjoyed Gilliam's Time Bandits. Although the director must bear some responsibility here, when stories fail to engage, it's reasonable to say that the fault lies primarily with the script. The screenplay was written by Ehren Kruger who has an uneven history as a writer. He wrote The Ring, but also wrote The Ring II. He wrote Arlington Road, but is to blame for Reindeer Games as well. Most recently, he wrote The Skeleton Key, another movie that doesn't live up to its substantial potential.

Kruger's script has moments that are meant to be funny, but they're not, and some even devolve into complete ludicrousness (don't even ask about the Gingerbread Man). It has moments of drama and melodrama, but both fall short. And the supposed tension frequently falls entirely flat. But in fairness to Mr. Kruger, the editing was choppy, the direction often questionable, and the actors apparently less than vested in their roles given their often wooden and two-dimensional performances. It's frankly hard to pinpoint the shortcomings of a movie when there are so many vying for attention! Too bad. I expected more from this talented company, and am endlessly disappointed that I didn't get it.

POLITICAL NOTES: The token resistance of the Germans to the occupation of the hated French is a sad commentary on the inclination of populations to merely endure tyrants rather than to rise up and fight. Although the movie intended this to be moderately humorous, there's a little too much truth to the notion of people who will tolerate almost any infringement of liberty rather than risk their comfortable existence to retain or restore their freedom. Sure, individuals under such circumstances will risk — and probably lose — everything. That's as true in real life as it proved to be in the film. But large groups can accomplish amazing things if only they'll take the risks together!

FAMILY SUITABILITY: The Brothers Grimm is rated PG-13 for "violence, frightening sequences, and brief suggestive material." Although the movie could likely be rated PG and get away with it easily enough (there are no truly violent or frightening moments — the only things I found genuinely disturbing had to do with a couple of scenes of cruelty to animals). Still, I'm not entirely sure that The Brothers Grimm is suitable for anybody. It's not truly bad. It is, however, truly dull, and there's not a much stronger condemnation for a story, is there?