The Brothers Grimm | ||||
Terry Gilliam Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Lena Headey, Jonathan Pryce, Monica Bellucci, Mackenzie Crook 2005 |
Plagued by production problems, Terry Gilliam's ill-fated 2002 film project "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" was shelved before completion. Still, Gilliam is a gifted director whose surreal animated sequences gave a distinctive look to the "Monty Python" TV series. When he moved on to helm his own features, the best of those efforts "Time Bandits," "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys" were marvels of droll storytelling and visual ingenuity. "The Brothers Grimm," Gilliam's follow-up to the "Don Quixote" movie, isn't up to his finest work, but it does offer some of his trademarks, such as his mordant sense of humor and his fixation on archetypal fables and fantasy. Starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the title characters, "The Brothers Grimm" is an eccentric adventure that imagines legendary German fairy-tale authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as con artists who travel the countryside in strife-torn times and pose as ghostbusters to bilk superstitious peasants. Business thrives until the Grimms are put at risk in a region that appears to be under a real curse, complete with missing children, a haunted forest and mystical creatures. Although awkward shifts in tone and uneven special effects hamper the film, less-than-perfect Gilliam is better than none. With Lena Headey as a brave heroine, Monica Bellucci as an enchanted queen, Jonathan Pryce as a despotic military governor, and Peter Stormare as a sadistic interrogator. | |||
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