Discworld and Member Articles
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Written by terrypratchettbooks.org
Monday, 12 September 2005 |
A review of the film 'The Brothers Grimm' by
Jared Goode, Staff Writer at The Rebel Yell - University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
I read a screenplay about a year and a half ago called "Good Omens." It was circulating Hollywood and already set to be directed by Terry Gilliam. Based on a novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens" is an Apocalyptic comedy a la Monty Python (and not so much in the vein of Kevin Smith's "Dogma"). It was clever, it was witty, and most notably, the project has now completely disappeared from the Internet Movie Database, implying that it has died somewhere in development hell. This is especially unfortunate being that what we're left with is "The Brothers Grimm."
With films like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "12 Monkeys," and "Brazil," Gilliam (a former member of the Monty Python troupe) has proven himself a cinematic visionary, a risk-taker, and a filmmaker on the edge. If "The Brothers Grimm" is a testament to where he now is artistically, Gilliam has clearly lost his edge and his vision. This movie had a lot of trouble getting released (same old story—filmmaker struggles with Hollywood big shots who want to tell him how to make a movie even though their only understanding of film is how much revenue they see come their way), and perhaps this is simply the sad outcome of that battle. Gilliam, however, claims the amount of time it took "Grimm" to come to theaters was only because the film took that long to complete. If that is the case, this isn't another "Stepford Wives" remake where everyone can blame the disastrous result of a movie on production turmoil, and thus there are people to be held accountable for the cinematic mess currently in theaters.
Don't get me wrong, "The Brothers Grimm" is nowhere near as terrible as "Stepford," but it is just as disconnected and faulty in its storytelling. Visually, "Grimm" is captivating, atmospheric and also staple Terry Gilliam. It creates a necessarily ethereal otherworld-a fantasyscape just on the border of reality. Honestly, the special effects aren't really the best—obvious and sometimes bad CGI is overused and takes away from the set design which is fun to look at, but ultimately the only thing worth seeing in this entire film. The premise is fantastic: Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (Heath Ledger and an especially flat Matt Damon) travel the countryside as charlatans, claiming they can rid towns of the evil spirits that haunt them, and set up elaborate displays of killing these spirits in order to collect payment from the frightened residents. Of course, they end up stumbling upon genuine horror, and the brothers need to combat dark forces for real this time.
If he had focused on this concept a bit more (or if he learned how to actually write good dialogue or develop characters), perhaps Ehren Krueger would have written the script to a movie audiences would connect with and feel invested in. However, he seems more concerned with throwing in as many Grimm's fairy tale references as he can and supporting these throwaway moments with a loose plot full of little details that apparently were never worth taking the time to explain. If part of the plot involves girls disappearing mysteriously, then it's okay to have little Gretel traipsing about the woods with brother Hansel, dropping bread crumbs and going on about some house made of sweets, until she wanders off into the darkness, possibly meeting the fate of many young women before her. It is not okay, however, to have some blobbish muck creature appear randomly in town, take the shape of a giant gingerbread man, and quote the famous gingerbread man story without in any way even remotely contributing to the plot. This is where it becomes contrivance, and a film built on contrivances cannot even attempt to masquerade as anything but. The movie is choppy, poorly structured and full of holes. If he wanted so badly to make endless fairytale allusions, Krueger should've taken some notes from "Shrek." But then, what can you expect from the screenwriter of "Scream 3" and "The Ring 2?"
Being that "Grimm" clearly isn't willing to push the comedy to a level of silliness, which would actually call for laughter or willing to let the movie take itself seriously enough to encourage the audience to take it seriously, what is delivered is a string of confusion—a boring display fitting for development hell more than "Good Omens" ever was. It's probably a good time for Terry Gilliam to reflect on his career in that magic mirror that plays such a key role in "Grimm"… and if Monica Bellucci is hanging out in there, it shouldn't be such a bad place to look.
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