CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 8/26/05

Grimly Constructed

By jeff goldsmith

Will and Jake Grimm are technologically advanced con men in 19th-century Germany who profit by ridding simpletons of their baseless superstitions -- right up until these Brothers Grimm are forced to fight for their lives against a real supernatural entity. Sadly the scariest item here is the failure of the script's ability to blend comedy and horror in an entertaining fashion.

The Brothers Grimm

Ehren Kruger

Wilhelm (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger) Grimm use their anthropological skills to con simple townsfolk out of their gold by faking large-scale exorcisms. Suddenly, French inquisitor Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) whisks the brothers into the presence of occupying French general Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce), who insists the Grimms investigate a series of kidnappings, else they lose their heads. Enlisted against their will, the Grimms employ their knowledge of supernatural folklore and their sheer bravery in order to join forces with a tough gal named Angelika (Lena Headey) and face off against the town's real evil.

Both screenwriter Ehren Kruger and director Terry Gilliam are smart filmic craftsmen who've proven themselves in the past, but sadly they don't mix well here. Simply put, many of the film's problems stem from issues of tone. Kruger's script has the makings of a serious supernatural action/adventure film in the vein of Time Bandits, but Gilliam (who co-wrote and directed Time Bandits) steered Kruger's script too far into low-brow comic territory for its own good. Gilliam usually blends comedy and drama (or adventure) quite well, and being a member of Britain's Monty Python comedy troupe certainly speaks to his skill. Yet, in Brothers Grimm, rather than creating a world where the mythology of the Grimm's tales can live and breathe, Gilliam simply threw in way too many comic moments, many of them barely funny at all. Thus, as the tables turn on the brothers and they're forced to face real-life dangers -- and Wilhelm is forced to finally take seriously some supernatural elements that he's previously mocked. Since Kruger and Gilliam never allow us to take the world seriously, the jokes intermixed with the scary scenes usually fail. There's very little spooky about this Grimm tale, which makes any joke thrown in more of a groaner than the usual horror convention of a much-needed moment of release for the audience.

Kruger and Gilliam shine during the last 30 minutes of the film, when we finally get a clue as to what all the fuss is about. Most of the film unfolds as brief supernatural encounters, which only make you wonder what the story would have been like if it had maintained more narrative focus than the understated character moments that steal time. Just like the Grimms, we seem to spend most of the story waiting for something to happen, and most of what occurs is more related to special effects than to narrative thrust.

To the film's merit, Kruger does provide us with some solidly original insights into the Wilhelm and Jacob's mythological landscape, but not enough to make up for the film's over-the-top comic style, which turns the brothers into caricatures rather than two characters we're motivated to care about.

The Brothers Grimm remains an interesting study in how intermixing tone can come back to bite you, while still not delivering the solid genre story we were expecting. The film isn't horrible; it just isn't very good. While it's always great to see what director Terry Gilliam is up to, we're anxiously awaiting his next project, Tideland. And, if you haven't already seen Ehren Kruger's current release, The Skeleton Key, you might want to consider checking out that film instead, as it certainly offers more bang for your buck than this Grimm tonal mess.

The Brothers Grimm
Miramax
Rated PG-13; 120 min.

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Jeff Goldsmith is senior editor for Creative Screenwriting magazine and serves as the Los Angeles Events Coordinator in charge of the Creative Screenwriting screening series.

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