June 10, 2010
The difficulty with con films is how to make them different to everything that’s gone before and how to keep the audience guessing. The Brothers Bloom isn’t all about the con though - it’s also about family and love and trust. This is what keeps you guessing whether or not Bloom (the ever loveable Adrien Brody), will turn the tables on older brother Stephen, the mastermind behind every con they’ve pulled since they were in their teens. The latest mark is Penelope (Rachel Weisz), a rich heiress with a quirky charm and eccentric sense of humour, who Bloom tries desperately hard not to fall in love with.
Flanking the brothers is a monosyllabic Japanese girl called Bang-Bang (played by Rinko Kikuchi, barely recognisable as the deaf-mute Chieko from Babel), who practises her explosive techniques by blowing up Barbie dolls. The film takes in a handful of exotic locations, including Prague and Montenegro, with handy subtitles to orient the viewer. In that sense, the film is highly self-conscious, which works well given the humour and genre. It also features some incredibly stylish touches and memorable sequences.
Rian Johnson’s second film is not at all like Brick (his much-lauded debut), but it is equally slick and inventive. The leads are all well cast and function as fully-rounded characters, with Kikuchi and Weisz providing much of the humour and Brody much of the pathos. This is a cool film, a sweet film, and one that leaves you feeling happy, despite all the double-crossing and conscience-wrangling that happens along the way.
Flanking the brothers is a monosyllabic Japanese girl called Bang-Bang (played by Rinko Kikuchi, barely recognisable as the deaf-mute Chieko from Babel), who practises her explosive techniques by blowing up Barbie dolls. The film takes in a handful of exotic locations, including Prague and Montenegro, with handy subtitles to orient the viewer. In that sense, the film is highly self-conscious, which works well given the humour and genre. It also features some incredibly stylish touches and memorable sequences.
Rian Johnson’s second film is not at all like Brick (his much-lauded debut), but it is equally slick and inventive. The leads are all well cast and function as fully-rounded characters, with Kikuchi and Weisz providing much of the humour and Brody much of the pathos. This is a cool film, a sweet film, and one that leaves you feeling happy, despite all the double-crossing and conscience-wrangling that happens along the way.