Buy The Brothers Grimm (DVD) from Play.com
Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Mackenzie Crook, Monica Bellucci
Now to many The Brothers Grimm will hold some fond memories, including myself which is why i was quite intrigued to see a film version about them.
The brothers were around in the early 1800’s and wrote some of the most famous fairy tales that have ever existed and the stories are still very much around today. Stories including; Snow White, Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin and Hansel & Gretal amongst many many others.
Now the two brothers’ real names were Jacob and Wilhelm, in the film they become Jake (Heath Ledger) and Will (Matt Damon). It paints the brothers as a couple of ghostbusters that travel from village to village ridding the evil spirits and charging extortionate prices to the locals. However, they are not as brave as they appear – they are frauds, setting up their friends to dress up as witches.
Eventually they land in hot water with the authorities and are offered a chance of redemption if they sort out a problem in a place called Marbaden. Only trouble is, this time, its for real.
Its a very well made film but it wasn’t the nostalgic winner i was hoping for. I wanted to recapture some of the magic that i used to feel when reading the stories of The Brothers Grimm as a child. Its not there, it paints them as charlatans and however it turns out, the damage is done from the off.
Maybe i’m just too old, i’m sure that kids would probably love it but for me it needed more magic. They obviously had a pretty good budget for the production and although i respect Terry Gilliam and his work, he can be a little hit and miss.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writer: Ehren Kruger
