...a ragged, sloppy patchwork quilt --but there's magic in it. The movie is a compromised, semi-mangled visit to a very special place.
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
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Reviews Counted:175
Fresh:65
Rotten:110
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: The Brothers Grimm is full of beautiful imagery, but the story is labored and less than enchanting.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
US Box Office: $37,848,537
Synopsis: Director Terry Gilliam, who brought his magical storytelling talents to such films as TIME BANDITS and THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, sets his sights on the Brothers Grimm, turning their life... Director Terry Gilliam, who brought his magical storytelling talents to such films as TIME BANDITS and THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, sets his sights on the Brothers Grimm, turning their life into a playfully grim fairy tale all its own. Set in early 18th century French-occupied Germany, THE BROTHERS GRIMM stars Matt Damon as Will Grimm and Heath Ledger as Jake Grimm, siblings who travel the countryside as snake-oil salesmen, convincing unsuspecting towns that they are haunted and agreeing to get rid of the demons--for a price. In the meantime, they set their tales down in writing, creating a wealth of oddball, offbeat, and frightening characters. But after they are caught by General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) and his sidekick, Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), they are sent to the tiny village of Marbaden to solve the mysterious disappearance of a number of young girls, placing them in the middle of a fantasy world unlike any they'd ever invented. They enlist the help of a peasant woman, Angelika (Lena Headey), and they set off for the evil forest to save the lives of the girls--and themselves. Gilliam has once again built a unique, entertaining land where anything can happen, and he throws in references to such Grimm tales as Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and the Frog Prince for good measure. The movie also features Mackenzie Crook and Richard Ridings as the Grimms' cohorts, Monica Bellucci as the Mirror Queen, and Julian Bleach and Bruce McEwan as two of Cavaldi's henchmen. [More]
Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Monica Bellucci
Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Monica Bellucci, Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Mackenzie Crook, Richard Ridings, Julian Bleach, Bruce McEwan
Director: Terry Gilliam
Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger
Producer: Charles Roven, Daniel Bobker
Composer: Dario Marinelli
Studio: Dimension Films
Reviews for The Brothers Grimm
A pinata of visual effects that Gilliam keeps smashing, with diminishing returns.
Gilliam's film is trapped somewhere between fable and comedy. It's as if he is so entranced by his own visual inventiveness that he completely loses sight of his storytelling.
A movie with a Terry Gilliam look and feel but without a Terry Gilliam soul. (The director) seems to have had his spirit broken by studio mandates and commercial constraints.
A film with all the drama and flair of a Tuesday Morning tchotchke shop.
If only summer movies were, as a matter of course, this inventive, this modest, this interested -- even derisively -- in cultural legacies, this faithful to concept and setting.
Another Gilliam exercise in wretched excess, an orgy of big-budget incoherence more likely to cause appalled astonishment than childish delight.
A departure into more mainstream territory for Gilliam, but maintains the dark humor and wonder that his fans expect
In keeping with the actual Grimm fables, as they were originally published before whitewashing took place, this movie has a lot of horror in it.
[O]ffers us a glimpse at a future where one of our most idiosyncratic directors has been beaten down by the corporate system. Now that’s the making of a Terry Gilliam movie.
Gilliam transmutes familiar fairy tales . . . into something that is distinctly his own [with] absurdist humor and more than a little social commentary
Surely the brothers Grimm are deserving of a real biopic. This is not just too phantasmagorical to be entertainment, it's incoherent,...an opportunity lost.
A heterogenous conglomeration full of sound and fury signifying you-know-what.
Fails to reinvent its Grimm yarns and only cursorily investigates the relationship between truth and fiction as it rumbles from one farcical scenario to another.
It's been 7 years since Gilliam's last film. It was not worth the wait.
Gilliam has rarely been more inventive, energetic, or just plain funny.
It's Gilliam's chance to run amok, and watching him do it is eye-popping fun.
Mr. Gilliam has no clear idea what he's doing, so the movie is nothing more than noise, costumes and disjointed special effects that do not make an acceptable substitute for the sense of tempo the rest of the film sorely lacks.
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