Brick director Rian Johnson delivers up his sophomore effort with The Brothers Bloom – a slick and classy con artist pic with some great performances but too many quirks to be a classic of the genre.
Orphaned brothers Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) bounced from one foster home to the next as children – a lifestyle spurred on my intricately-planned cons like that which starts the film. 25 years later, the dramatics have reached fever pitch but the same problems remain – Stephen loves the thrill of the con while Bloom is terrified that he has never had a genuine moment in a life of deceit. Together with their mostly mute explosives expert Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), the brothers take on one last job which Stephen promises will finally give Bloom what he really wants. The target – Rachel Weisz’s Penelope; a rich shut-in with a hundred expert hobbies and no sense of reality.
The Brothers Bloom lays on the charm from the outset – building the symbiotic relationship between the leads through scenes of expertly narrated visual poetry. The first adult con is gloriously unveiled and luring in Weisz heiress is done stylishly and with good humour, as the audience is slowly embroiled in a convoluted plan which sees her join the gang of 'art smugglers' as they set off on a picturesque criminal world tour - taking in Montenegro, Prague and Romania. Inevitable romantic
complications and devilish twists arise as we wend our way towards the dramatic finale.
It’s clear that Johnson has a love of genre films – Brick was his ode to film noir and The Brother Bloom seems just as enamoured with the con movie. The problem is that the best con artist films are as complex as the criminal plans themselves and while the film is technically impressive and all the genre elements are in their proper place there’s one important part missing. The best con films are just as concerned with fooling the audience as the mark, but we never feel that The Brothers Bloom is really getting under our skin.
Thankfully, the cast are excellent - particularly Weisz who captures Penelope's unusual mix of naiveté and experienced hobbyist while looking absolutely stunning and pulling off skateboard and card tricks with aplomb. Kikuchi's near silent performance should be laughable but she brings a huge amount of personality to a mute pyromaniac and Ruffalo seems to be having a lot of fun as the scheming Stephen. Only Brody is a tad disappointing - he's a world class brooder and the intense scenes are note perfect but has some trouble with the films many lighter moments.
The Brothers Bloom is a fun caper flick with some gorgeous images and a memorable performance from Rachel Weisz. But its not as clever as you would like it to be and the endlessly quirky tone ultimately distracts from the potentially dramatic twists of the finale. There's no doubt Johnson is a talented filmmaker but maybe this project was a little too ambitious for an inexperienced director.
3/5
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