The Brothers Grimm **½ (2005, Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Monica Bellucci, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Stormare, Lena Headey) – Classic Movie Review 1611

The grim news in that director Terry Gilliam’s 2005 movie is not a fairy tale success, though Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are extremely game and likeable as the real-life tall story-telling brothers, Will and Jake Grimm (even if it’s unclear why the American and the Aussie are attempting Brit accents though playing Germans).

On the other hand, Brit actor Jonathan Pryce is playing the French villain Delatombe (very badly, ripely and fruitily) and Swedish actor Peter Stormare is playing the Italian baddie-turned-goodie Cavaldi (very badly, ripely and fruitily).

It’s Germany in 1812, and the French overrun the country. The Brothers Grimm have been making a living as travelling conmen making fake exorcisms, but now they find they have to tackle a real fairy-tale curse involving the disappearance of some girls.

It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Gilliam or his actors that Ehren Kruger’s screenplay just isn’t strong enough or interesting enough to lavish such loving attention on. Gilliam doesn’t seem to know whether to make his movie scary or funny, and it ends up being neither, though it is certainly busy, frenzied, atmospheric, imaginative and good-looking enough.

No one seems to know if it’s meant to be a story or just some fragmented bad-dream images. Is it meant to illustrate the lives of the Brothers Grimm or their work, or is it a fantasy entertainment? What do we learn? How are we being entertained? Gilliam really doesn’t provide any answers.

When you think of wonderful 80s fantasy movies like The Company of Wolves, The Princess Bride or Willow – or Gilliam’s own Time Bandits – you remember how it should be done. Nevertheless, Gilliam, Damon and Ledger save it. Monica Bellucci has a grand old time as the evil Mirror Queen, Lena Headey helps out as Angelika, Mackenzie Crook is Hidlick and Roger Ashton-Griffiths plays the Mayor.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1611

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/