The Brothers Bloom

The story of The Brothers Bloom, a highly successful conman team, is a study in detailed cinema.  Director Rian Johnson has done amazing things with what could have easily been a mediocre tale.  Everything from the detailed and developed characters to the amazing cinematography makes The Brothers Bloom a movie that you will be happy to watch over and over again.

The older brother Stephen, played by a sly, unshaved Mark Ruffalo, is often leading his younger brother Bloom, a forlorn Adrian Brody, into troubled waters.  They find their calling in childhood, Stephen is to spend the rest of his life looking to write and execute the perfect con, while Bloom searches in vain for a way to live an ‘unwritten’ life.  Bloom wants out of the family biz but Stephen manages to rope him in for one last job; to show millionaire shut-in Penelope (a youthful Rachael Weisz) the world while relieving her of a couple of million dollars.  But of course, things do not all go to plan, and hilarity ensues.

The characters are nothing short of brilliant.  The relationship between Bloom and Stephen is amusing and touching, without too many Hollywood cliches.  Penelope is intelligent enough to catch the details that make up the con, but too naïve to put it all together.  However my favourite character is Japanese explosions expert Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi).  With hardly any dialogue her character does anything but fall into the background, with her scenes being some of the most entertaining.

One of the stand out elements of The Brothers Bloom is the poetic detail of both the script and the scenes.  Endings are hinted in the beginning and there are moments of total confusion as the audience struggles to figure out which is the con, and which is reality.

The settings, dialogue and costumes are another element that allows for the watching and re-watching The Brothers Bloom to you hearts content, believe me, you’ll get something new every time.  The soundtrack wraps up all the magical elements of The Brothers Bloom into what I expect will become somewhat of an indie classic.