The Brothers Bloom

Last night The Brothers Bloom just may have made it onto a short list of films that I buy and then watch incessantly--for no other reason than the fact that I can't get enough. A few faults aside, The Brothers Bloom was 90 perfect minutes of funny, clever, endearing, and captivating entertainment.

Without appearing to try too hard, director Rian Johnson creates a convincing world for his characters to exist in. And it's the characters that make this film so great. Bloom (Adrienne Brody) and Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) have been con men since they were children, imagining and enacting elaborate crimes that involve not just millions of dollars but sweeping narratives and "thematic arcs." Bloom grows tired of being a fictional character in the narratives Stephen dreams up, and he attempts to elude his brother and lead his own "unwritten life." Stephen, however, convinces Bloom to participate in one last con involving a shut-in millionairess/epileptic photographer/"collector of hobbies" named Penelope (Rachel Weisz). Bloom is charged with sweeping the eccentric Penelope off her feet for the sake of the brothers' plot--and, unsurprisingly, the two develop a real-life romance, slowly, beautifully and hilariously. As the brothers' con progresses, the film's plot grows increasingly confused. The audience and characters becomes trapped in a con within a con, perhaps within another con, and the ending--though heartbreaking--doesn't feel as satisfying as it should.

Adrienne Brody and Mark Ruffalo deliver great performances, but Rachel Weisz steals the show completely. Her character is one quirk after another, but it never feels forced; Weisz delivers every line (and slap-stick motion) perfectly. Her performance is a testament to her talent as well as that of Johnson as a director. Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), the brothers' mysterious, non-English speaking assistant/"muscle"/explosive expert, also provides much of the film's humor.

Coincidentally also on the list of films I can never get enough of are Brick, Johnson's first film, and Rushmore, my favorite film by Wes Anderson, whose influence on The Brothers Bloom (and our culture at large) is clear. The Brothers Bloom is a worthy second film for Johnson, although Brick felt a bit richer and deeper, and certainly darker. Brick is a (darkly) funny thriller, while The Brothers Bloom occasionally doesn't know what it is (romance? action film? whimsical comedy?). And The Brothers Bloom does in some ways resemble, as Slate puts it, an "Andersonian quirkfest." The prologue in particular--which details the Bloom brothers' migratory childhood emphasizing their eccentricities and the carefully constructed eccentricities of the almost fairy-tale world they live in--was distractingly Anderson-esque. The rest of the film, however, overcomes this association, and turns "Andersonian quirks" into a heartfelt, engrossing film for me to buy into, and buy on DVD.