October 01, 2008
The Brothers Bloom
The movie is good, but Bang Bang is awesome!
Starring: Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi
Rating: 8/10
Directed By: Rian Johnson
Runtime: 109 minutes
Starring: Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi
Rating: 8/10
Directed By: Rian Johnson
Runtime: 109 minutes
Every year at Fantastic Fest, Ain't It Cool News favors us with a few "Secret Screening" treats, which are usually early releases of studio productions (a huge divergence from the rest of the festival's concentration on indie, genre, and international films). Last year we got to see big films like Southland Tales and There Will Be Blood months before their theatrical release. Often times these Secret Screenings are US Debuts. AICN screenings are pretty hit or miss in my book (thanks to last year's Persepolis and this year's Appaloosa, or City of Ember), but that's neither here nor there and could be considered a rant unto itself. This year's first Secret Screening was a big hit in my book: The Brothers Bloom. 
The Brothers Bloom stars the delicious Adrien Brody and a skeezy Mark Ruffalo as Bloom and Stephen, two brothers who have been pulling cons and playing tricks since they were youngsters, bouncing from foster home to foster home and wreaking havoc all along the way. But even from a young age, Bloom has had a weakness for the ladies and dislikes pulling ruses on the fairer sex. By the time we see the brothers all grown up, Bloom has had it with the con-man game and is ready to live "an unwritten life". But first, Stephen talks him into one last con: taking advantage of a reclusive orphan woman who has millions to spare. Of course, things don't go as planned from the get-go (otherwise it would make for a very dull film indeed), and the ensuing hijinks are surprising, hilarious, touching, and very fun. This flick is a delightful follow-up for writer/director Rian Johnson, who debuted on the film scene in 2005 with his movie Brick. For The Brothers Bloom, he turns to away from the dreary underworld of drugs and violence to a lighthearted tale of intrigue and romance, and if you didn't know any better, you'd swear it was a Wes Anderson film. That's not to say it's a cheap rip-off in any sense; it has the tongue-in-cheek humor you'd find in The Royal Tennenbaums or The Life Aquatic, but with something different. I've found it impossible to enunciate how exactly Johnson's approach is different than Anderson's, but I can assert it nonetheless! Watch it for yourself and see if you can tell.
Brody and Ruffalo both give great performances, and Weisz really does it up well for this one. To really suit her role as a "hobby collector" Penelope, she actually learned to play piano, violin, and accordion, to break-dance, to juggle, do karate, play ping-pong, banjo, unicycle, and skateboard. Now that's dedication to your character right there! However, the one who really steals the scene is Rinko Kikuchi as the mute sidekick Bang Bang (nicknamed for her proficiency with pyrotechnics). She pulls off the role of "sexy mime" perfectly, complete with fabulous outfits and plastic explosives. She's the kind of girl I want to be friends with. The Brothers Bloom is slated for theatrical release in January, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. And in the meantime, revel in envy that I got to see it first. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!