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Rian Johnson Is the New Wes Anderson
Postmodern Brothers Bloom deals in fantastical reality
Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo star in Brothers Bloom
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Brothers Bloom is a postmodern movie. It ponders the nature of storytelling: is it outright lying, or make-believe? And can something that started as a story become fact? The plot twists are a series of cons, leading the audience to assume one variation of truth after another. Even the scenery, costumes and dialog create an unknowable world, referencing the past while adhering to the norms of the present; modern cars crash while oceans are crossed on steam ships.
Two brothers, the best con men alive, are after their final target before they retire. The plan is to take millions from an eccentric, reclusive rich girl (Rachel Weisz). The story traces the brothers’ whirlwind career from their first con as children in a foster home to plots that took them around the world. Somewhere along the way, the brothers (Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody) picked up a partner in the form of the hottest demolition expert ever (Rinko Kikuchi).
The acting talent that signed on to produce his script pleasantly surprised writer/director Rian Johnson. The film was shot in Serbia, Romania, Montenegro and Prague and is an homage to its con-genre predecessors. An elaborate website details what films inspired Johnson’s creation. On Johnson’s blog about the movie, he is passionate and tireless, offering to field questions from the public. This alone suggests Brothers Bloom will have more heart than the latest from director Wes Anderson, whose work is often referenced in descriptions of Brothers Bloom.
After Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited, another film about dysfunctional brothers, I soured on the subgenre of films about globetrotting, wealthy, feuding family members learning about each other and the nature of love. Such tales were becoming overly self-referential, high on style and low on substance, where women were more quirks than humans.
Unlike recent Anderson work, Brothers Bloom engages the audience instead of banking on its devotion. Brothers Bloom relies on the audience’s sense of humor, heart and unending, ageless love for adventure. For her role, Rachel Weisz went to preparatory extremes, learning karate, skateboarding, break dancing and various musical instruments. Here, Adrien Brody is more than the subtle and dour brother in Darjeeling; he falls in love with the heiress he is trying to fool. Mark Ruffalo’s charm finally gets front stage.
Brothers Bloom answers its own question excellently: a good story is about telling such a convincing tale that it becomes reality. Prepare to be swept up into the magic of this strangely familiar fabricated world.
December 19, 2008 (Limited), January 16, 2009 (Full US)