In 2005 a movie came out called Brick. if you have not seen it, stop reading, go watch it and come back. It is that good. It was written and directed by Rian Johnson and from the minute Brick ended, I started waiting with great anticipation for what Johnson would do next. Finally, in 2008, he was to make his return with The Brothers Bloom. However, the movie kept getting pushed back, which is never a good sign. My excitement never left because I know that sometimes some movies just get lost in the shuffle, but releasing it in summer did not really seem like a smart idea. I was beginning to worry that this movie would never make it to Sacramento and after its first weekend here, I was worried it would not make it a second week, so I hurried out on Monday to catch it before it goes away.
We first meet Stephen and Bloom as young boys of 13 and 10. They are orphans who go from foster home to foster home for a variety of reasons, the final one being larceny. Ricky Jay narrates the wonderful opening as we see Stephen hatch his first con: a story in 15 parts. Stephen and Bloom con a bunch of school kids out of two dollars each, so Bloom can find out the location of some treasure from a hermit. The kids do not get the treasure, but they leave satisfied, which Stephen says is the point of a good con: everyone wins. However, Bloom never wins. Bloom is always cast as the tragic anti-hero and never gets to know who he really is. Bloom takes over the narration as we cut to the brothers in their 30s. After another con Bloom(Adrien Brody) tells Stephen(Mark Ruffalo) he is quitting. Three months later, Stephen finds Bloom and tells him he has one last con. The mark is Penelope(Rachel Wiesz) a millionaire shut in, just dying for an adventure. She is a curious girl and Bloom wants to say no, but he cannot help himself. The idea is to take Penelope for a few million dollars, while giving her the adventure of a life time. Stephen concocts a con that involves a boat, a book and a trip to Mexico. Bloom finds it difficult to con Penelope because the girl is incredibly smart and seems to know everything and of course, he is also falling in love with her, which always presents a problem in a con game.
Never one to let substance get in the way of style, Rian Johnson has written and directed one totally cool movie. The characters wear awesome hats, cool clothes and say things like "That is my new favorite camel" which implies there was an old favorite camel, and that just cracks me up. Mark Ruffalo is completely in control as Stephen and delivers a great performance, especially towards the climax. Stephen writes cons like a great author writes stories and Ruffalo captures that kind of lost artist aspect of Stephen. Brody's Bloom is a bit too down for a movie like this, but Brody does a good enough job of selling the coolness factor of it all. He plays the anti-hero well and has a very Odysseus like quality to him and that is brought home even further in that the girl he is chasing is named Penelope, the same name as Odysseus' wife. So that was probably intentional. As Penelope, Rachel Weisz is a bundle of nervous energy, adorable mannerisms and child-like enthusiasm. She is a wonderful actress having the time of her life playing a girl who collects hobbies and watching Rachel Weisz skateboard, even if only for a few seconds is just too cute. Throw in the oh so sexy Rinko Kikuchi as the mute explosions expert and you have quite a great cast of unique, quirky characters for this kind of folksy con film.
When you watch a movie about con men, there is always a sense of not taking anything at face value and you are always kind of looking out for where the twist is and on the way home, you are trying to find holes and looking for places where the con breaks down, but this movie holds up. There is not a really big twist, in my mind. It is just the story of one man trying to tell the perfect story and one man trying to live a life that is not written before it happens. The cons are merely the backdrop for these characters to figure out their lives. Rian Johnson shoots the whole thing in such a way that we want to be a part of it. We want to wear the hats, the clothes and speak the dialog. We want to live that life because Rian Johnson makes it looks so effortlessly cool. He even includes a character named Diamond Dog, just to add to the cool factor.
The Brothers Bloom gets laughs and thrills by playing off what The Ocean's movies started: putting cool people in situations where they can predict exactly what is going to happen. When the Brothers Bloom need something they go out and get it without having much problem getting it. Stephen keeps his cool no matter what happens, even when a building gets a bigger bang than they expect and Penelope gets arrested. Stephen believes his stories are flawless so there is no reason to ever get worked up. He is the kind of cool customer that only exists in movies and because of that, I wanted to be him. Of course, I am always drawn to movies that are specifically about telling stories. In this case, the stories are about making lies so good that they become truth, but the importance of the stories is that people believe them. Rian Johnson has created a wonderful story with lines of dialog like "I think you are constipated in your soul" and created a perfectly adorable woman in Penelope. Johnson is one of the freshest writer/directors out there and I hope people find his movies and realize just how difficult it is to make things look easy. It takes a special kind of director to make things cool without showing they are trying to make it cool.
The Brothers Bloom might lack Brick's originality and substance, but it is the perfect summer indie film. The locations are sunny, the clothes light, the dialog kissed by a warm breeze and the performances a perfect mix of fluffy and interesting. Everything falls into place and even though the end might bring some people down, I found it to be bittersweet and exactly how a movie like this should end. The Brothers Bloom will not the kind of box office, or patronage it deserves, but neither did Brick, when it was in theaters. If you cannot get out and see this movie in theaters, make sure you find it on DVD, I really do not think you will be disappointed.
Final Grade: A
P.S. The Queen of Hearts symbolism is wonderfully subtle, whereas the the lights constantly flickering on is not subtle, but funny symbolism.
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