'The Brothers Bloom' could be the ultimate con story and a very fun film. It somehow fails on both missions without being a film lacking quality and some nice moments.
The two brothers in the center of the story are world experts in cheating. They stage elaborate cons, their victims are rich people, so they do not and we do not feel to guilty about their tricks The principal moral aspect they have to deal with is that by playing roles as a profession they risk to lose their identity and when real feelings interfere relative to their victims they risk professional failure. When the younger brother Bloom (Adrien Brody) falls for the rich widow (Rachel Weisz) who proves to have talents of her own for ticks and crafts, it is clear that things will get complicated. The whole story plays on several layers of deception, and this is what the authors of the story built the whole film upon. The problem is that they are too many layers, and too many apparent and possible endings for this story, so that at the end when the real final happens the viewers will not carry or will refuse to get involved, fearing that it's another con ending.
We are left with exquisite acting. Adrien Brody plays on the tragic and pathetic register all along the film, maybe a little bit too pathetic to be totally genuine. His melancholic look spreads all over the movie, but as we know his cabotine sadness is also a professional trick we end by asking ourselves at any moment whether it is totally genuine. Rachel Weisz is beautiful and sophisticated and has good chemistry with Brody. The acting revelation is however Mark Ruffalo as the older, rough but deeply caring brother. He is touching and he does look sincere if there is such thing as a sincere crook, and gives credibility to the slightly incredible ending. Rinko Kikuchi completes the quartet in the almost completely speechless role of the con men assistant, kind of Japanese female Q (as in the Bond movies).
The film has a lot of literary and musical references that can be watched and liked if you know the nuances. It's many good pieces are however enveloped in a story that tries to be too sophisticated. A somehow more easier touch in directing and perhaps a simplified story line could have made of this film the really fun film we expected.
The two brothers in the center of the story are world experts in cheating. They stage elaborate cons, their victims are rich people, so they do not and we do not feel to guilty about their tricks The principal moral aspect they have to deal with is that by playing roles as a profession they risk to lose their identity and when real feelings interfere relative to their victims they risk professional failure. When the younger brother Bloom (Adrien Brody) falls for the rich widow (Rachel Weisz) who proves to have talents of her own for ticks and crafts, it is clear that things will get complicated. The whole story plays on several layers of deception, and this is what the authors of the story built the whole film upon. The problem is that they are too many layers, and too many apparent and possible endings for this story, so that at the end when the real final happens the viewers will not carry or will refuse to get involved, fearing that it's another con ending.
We are left with exquisite acting. Adrien Brody plays on the tragic and pathetic register all along the film, maybe a little bit too pathetic to be totally genuine. His melancholic look spreads all over the movie, but as we know his cabotine sadness is also a professional trick we end by asking ourselves at any moment whether it is totally genuine. Rachel Weisz is beautiful and sophisticated and has good chemistry with Brody. The acting revelation is however Mark Ruffalo as the older, rough but deeply caring brother. He is touching and he does look sincere if there is such thing as a sincere crook, and gives credibility to the slightly incredible ending. Rinko Kikuchi completes the quartet in the almost completely speechless role of the con men assistant, kind of Japanese female Q (as in the Bond movies).
The film has a lot of literary and musical references that can be watched and liked if you know the nuances. It's many good pieces are however enveloped in a story that tries to be too sophisticated. A somehow more easier touch in directing and perhaps a simplified story line could have made of this film the really fun film we expected.