The summer season draws to a close this week, much to the chagrin of students and moviegoers alike. As flip-flops and sunglasses give way to sweaters and scarves, arty Academy favorites are ready to chase popcorn blockbusters from the screens. And like any beach blanket partier, the film industry is still looking to go out with a bang.
As box office sales plummeted to a record low, the pressure was on to find one final summer smash. Movie execs across the country rubbed their hands in greedy glee last Friday when Terry Gilliam offered up his latest directorial work, "The Brothers Grimm."
The formula was perfect: two A-list actors (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), a highly accredited director returning from a seven-year hiatus, and a gaudy fantasy-adventure flick that would buoy the genre in the post-"Lord of the Rings" fallout. Unfortunately, as soon as trailers hit theaters way back in May, it didn't take long to realize that the outlook for "Brothers" was, well, grim.
Advertisements simultaneously billed "Brothers" as a scary thriller, action flick, fantasy adventure, buddy-comedy, and love story. Now the film itself is finally available, and it turns out the 'little bit of everything' approach falls flat on its face, resulting in a silly hodgepodge of styles that fail to conceal a weak storyline.
Set against the backdrop of a fictitious war between France and Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, "Brothers" follows the famous Grimm authors from their days as traveling con artists to their first encounter with the world of enchantment that would later make them famous.
Gilliam, the diversely talented director who brought us "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), has already proven that he can do many genres well - but apparently not in the same movie. "Brothers'" humor is childish, the adventure uninteresting, and the horror factor isn't exactly up to big-bad-wolf caliber.
Genre-contamination issues aside, Gilliam's directionless vision trickles down to taint just about every other aspect of the film. Space age CGI clashes with the already inappropriate Old English accents (the Grimms were German); random acts of grisly violence against small, furry creatures pepper an otherwise G-rated project; an opening flashback sequence to the Grimm's childhood years is never referred to again.
All the blame, however, can't rest on Gilliam -- Oscar-nominated lead Matt Damon is conspicuously culpable. The talented actor, who has brought to life such complex characters as Will Hunting and Jason Bourne, falls far short of the mark in his lackluster portrayal of the cynical Wilhelm Grimm. Granted, the script doesn't give Damon much to work with; previously a master of quick, dry, hyper-intelligent wit, Damon can only gum his way through mediocre jokes and punchless punch lines.
Script aside, however, Damon certainly didn't make the effort to rise above the second-rate material. It was surprising -- and not pleasantly so -- to see a veteran like Damon simply recite his lines like a nervous second-grader at a school play. His performance is largely emotionless, and his robotic execution makes it hard to believe either his romance with Lena Headey's character or his brotherly love for Ledger.
On the other hand, Damon's costar took what the script gave him and turned it into a highly entertaining performance. Earlier this year in "Lords of Dogtown" and now in "Grimm," Heath Ledger has discovered a flair for comic relief that strays from his history of heroic leading man roles. Physical comedy, quirky speech patterns, and improvised idiosyncrasies are all new thespian tools for Ledger, and he uses them with his seasoned skills to craft layered, likeable characters.
Unlike the charismatic bad boy persona that secured his fame in 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You," Ledger's Jacob Grimm is bumbling, awkward, and very unlucky with the ladies. However, he easily wins the audience's heart as his strong onscreen personality compensates for the film's otherwise complete lack of character development.
Sadly, Ledger's reinvention will not be enough to answer the industry's prayers for a fairytale ending. Guess they'll just have to pin their hopes on "Harry Potter" in November.<$>
