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| Mark R. Leeper... |
 Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:00 pm |
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THE BROTHERS BLOOM
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The second film for writer-director Rian
Johnson is a pleasantly bizarre story of two
international con men trying to con a wealthy and
attractive widow. Or are they trying to con each
other? In any case, Johnson is trying (and
succeeding) to con the audience. The film is fun,
but the characters are not well developed. The
audience has to be onboard not for the characters
but for the twisty ride. Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4)
or 6/10
The most playful crime films are the ones about confidence
tricksters. They could be telling a straight story or they could
be pulling the wool over the audience's eyes. And the viewer never
knows for sure. Some tell their story directly about people in
this profession--and they usually are a fascinating subject to
write about--and some pull their own hustle on the viewer at the
same time they are entertaining. THE BROTHERS BLOOM is about as
twisty a con man film as I have seen. It is written and directed
by Rian Johnson, whose debut was the creative high school film noir
film BRICK.
The Bloom brothers have been fraudsters since they were boys. We
see them as young teens pulling a scam on an entire town. This is
when the younger of the Blooms (apparently his name is Bloom Bloom,
played by Zachary Gordon and later played by Adrien Brody) first
associating a really good con game with attracting girls. His
older brother Stephen Bloom (played by Max Records and later by
Mark Ruffalo) plans the cons and entices Bloom into the scheme.
His planning is meticulous with all the steps represented as blocks
in a flow chart. The art design picks up the motif of the hand-
lettered boxes and uses them as chapter titles for their story.
Flash-forward several years and the two brothers are now part of a
three-person team. The third person is almost literally a silent
partner. She is a Japanese woman with the Chinese name Ying-Ling
or Bang-Bang, as she is usually called. Rinko Kikuchi plays Bang-
Bang. Their latest mark is Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz of the
"Mummy" movies and the excellent THE CONSTANT GARDNER). The two
men apparently charm Penelope who seems as ill-fated in finding
friends and love as she is driving a car. Bloom is now in his
thirties and realizes if he does not get out of the game soon these
scams are going to be his whole life. And perhaps he would like to
retire with Penelope. Incidentally, it is nice to see Maximilian
Schell along in one of his least glamorous roles ever.
The problem with this film is that the people are not characters
but plot contrivances. I guess what it means to create a character
is to make the character understandable and perhaps just a bit
predictable. But Johnson wants to keep his characters enigmatic so
the viewer is never really sure what they will do. This means that
we cannot believe we understand anyone. A film like THE STING
intelligently does not make its plot too convoluted and
unpredictable. Consequently its director, George Roy Hill, could
develop his characters more than Johnson allowed himself to do in
THE BROTHERS BLOOM.
THE BROTHERS BLOOM is as much a game as it is a story film, but
then so are most mysteries. The audience climbs onto the
convoluted plot and tries to hold on to the storyline. Then Rian
Johnson does whatever he can to surprise them and throw them off.
Right through to the end and perhaps beyond the audience is not
sure who to believe. That makes for an enjoyable ride, but not
enough more than that. I rate THE BROTHERS BLOOM a high +1 on the
-4 to +4 scale or 6/10.
Film Credits: <http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0844286>
What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brothers_bloom/>
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper at (no spam) optonline.net
Copyright 2009 Mark R. Leeper |
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