The Brothers Bloom is a con movie. Now I’m sure all of us have seen a movie that involves pulling off a con in some form or fashion. It is a repeated formula in movie plots. But this one is different than most. It is smart, entertaining, contains beautiful locations, and it’s funny. But it also has a few twists. But that’s pretty routine in movies like this.
The story centers around two brothers, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). As kids, they traveled from foster home to foster home and along the way Stephen started to create con after con, and they always involved Bloom somehow. Well, once they get older not much has changed except the brothers have become successful international con men.
But Bloom wants out. He wants to live a “real” life, and not one that Stephen has created for him. So Stephen gets Bloom to go along with one more scam, and then Stephen will never ask Bloom to take part in another con ever again. This brings us to the mark, Penelope (Rachel Weisz). She is a heiress who is looking for an adventure and some real excitement in her boring life.
The Brothers Bloom was able to get a cast that could pull off a story such as this one. Brody is a good actor and his chemistry with Ruffalo and Weisz is fantastic. Of course, there is a romance that forms between Penelope and Bloom, which complicates things. Bloom got his heart broken when he was a kid, and he never really got over it. And Stephen has always been the mastermind behind every con. A con for Stephen is like a well-crafted, detailed story. And Bloom is one of his characters. And Brody and Ruffalo play these characters perfectly. They are able to feed off each other and can love each other one minute, and hate each other the next.
Now who surprises me is Weisz. Her character is looking for an adventure and perhaps may find love along the way. She likes the feeling of excitement and thrills. But Penelope is also funny. Weisz has played some serious roles in her career, but she is the comedy relief in this movie. She’s a gifted actress, so maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me that she could be comedic and dramatic and balance the two.
Now the story starts off interesting, but loses it’s way a little. However, director Rian Johnson gets it back on track towards the end with a pretty good twist. Like I said before, there are twists but they are small. The one in the end will catch you off guard. Right when you think you know, you better think again.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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