Blind Prophecy

So I just got home from seeing The Brothers Grimm. I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Matt Damon has never really impressed me all that much as an actor, but Heath Ledger created a character so unlike his previous work that I had to double check that it was actually him.

I thought the pacing was a bit slow at times, and my attention attention wandered a bit during those sections. Still, there were plenty of laugh-out-loud bits to it. As usual with Terry Gilliam films, you don’t really know how to classify it – comedy, adventure, or fantasy – but I thought much of the direction was spot on.

The script found clever ways of playing with favorite fairy tales, as well as some less known ones. But in the end don’t all fairy tales end with the magic kiss?

Thematically, I thought the focus on what it means to be brothers was interesting and emotionally compelling. It isn’t so much about the difference between believing in logic (Will – Damon) versus believing in magic (Jake – Ledger), but about believing in each other. To that end, the film doesn’t say anything radically new or original, but we have a fun time along the way regardless.

Filed under: livejournal by Jere Keys