The Brothers Grimm

• Directed by Terry Gilliam
• August 26, 2005 (US) / November 4, 2005 (UK) / November 11, 2005 (Czech Republic)

Traveling con-artists the Brothers Grimm are forced to confront a genuine fairy-tale curse.

Terry Gilliam’s hand in The Brothers Grimm is noticeable immediately though not nearly as pronounced as in something like Time Bandits. The film is odd and quirky and certainly unique. It’s a dark fantasy with tinges of dark and even ironic humor.

The story borrows bits and pieces from multiple Grimm’s fairytales. Wicked queens and magical mirrors and even “fairest of them all” are brought in. Heck we even get a touch of Red Riding Hood in this and a dark nod to the gingerbread man.

It’s a fictionalized origin story for the Brothers Grimm painting them as con men faking supernatural events to trick poorly educated locals out of their money. And apparently business is good. Weirdly though the locals of the assorted towns never pick up on it, but the occupying French authorities do and arrest them out of need rather than a desire for any justice.

Our heroes are reluctant heroes. Their scheme is figured out by General Vavarin Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) who has heard stories of the supernatural in the village of Marbaden and presumes them to be the result of con-artists like the Grimms. His plan is to use them to expose the fraudsters.

Peter Stormare is a great character actor. He can be truly threatening to comically evil. He plays Delatombe flunky Mercurio Cavaldi as more of a jerk than a villain. The part was originally offered to Robin Williams who dropped out and you can see how Cavaldi was crafted for the actor. But it’s to the benefit of the movie as Williams would’ve greatly overshadowed the two leads. In my opinion Stormare still steals the screen when he’s on as does Pryce. Heck, even Monica Bellucci as the evil Mirror Queen trapped in the tower overshadowed them.

That could be because Matt Damon is not a charming enough rogue as Will Grimm. He’s not strongly entertaining to watch. There is no spark of bad boy or untrustworthy yet fun friend that makes him somebody you might want to be around. Heath Ledger as his brother Jake is far too good and innocent to engage in such a long running con game as implied the two have been doing.

Lena Headley in a heavy-handed attempt to invert expectations plays a local woman who like her father is also a fur trapper named Angelika who’s hired as a guide and referred to as the cursed one because her father died and some of her siblings have passed though I am confused if they all were at the hands of the same cause.

This uses a mixture of location shooting and sets to great effect. It creates the dark fantasy that Gilliam is clearly aiming for. Unfortunately the film has trouble deciding whether it wants to be about the brothers repairing their long damaged relationship, some kind of romantic rivalry between the two for Angelika, the villainous queen, or the French general who doesn’t like his posting and is hoping to use a situation he thinks involves local rebels to his advantage to get out of there. 

Yet I found myself enjoying it. Though not perfect there is more to like than dislike. It’s fun yet dark. As fictional origin stories go, it’s entertaining. That uses it balances nicely fact and fiction to give the whole thing an air of believability. And it plays with the concept to great results.

The Brothers Grimm is good but not great. It’s a fun adventure and if you like Terry Gilliam or even fantasy laced films this will certainly hit the spot. Worth viewing.