Comedy Movie Review: The Brothers Bloom
This is a movie review of The Brothers Bloom.
Plot Summary (courtesy of IMDB):
Brothers - older Stephen and three years junior Bloom - have been con artists since they were kids. Stephen is the mastermind, for who the intricacy of the story used in the con is as important as the positive outcome of the swindle. Bloom is the main character of Stephen's stories, the character he considers the anti-hero. As adults, they travel the world and never enlist the same people twice in their cons, except for their consistent sidekick, the mysterious and primarily silent Bang Bang, a Japanese woman who just appeared in their lives one day and who has a penchant for blowing things up. As Bloom hits his mid-thirties, he wants to quit the business as he is losing his own identity to that of the characters he portrays; he doesn't know anymore what is real and what is make-believe. Stephen talks him into one last con, the mark to be the eccentric, lonely but beautiful New Jersey heiress, Penelope Stamp. Penelope's primary past-time in life is to, as she calls it, "borrow hobbies": when she sees something she likes, she learns how to do it solely through reading books. As the brothers go through their final con on Penelope, three main problems may occur to thwart the plan. First, the brothers' former mentor and now arch enemy, Diamond Dog, may exact his long awaited revenge on the brothers. Second, Penelope may end up being more unpredictable than all their former marks. And third, Bloom, who has let love slip by in his life, may fall for Penelope. But through the process, no one ever really knows who is conning who.
Run Time: 113 Minutes
Movie Review:
I was hoping to see this moving in the theater, but it only had a limited short run which did not include any nearby theaters. Still, I had very high expectations for seeing this movie and was pleasantly awarded with expectations fulfilled. It had such a large All Star cast and what seemed to be a fairly large effects and travel budget I am still surprised to see that it never made it to a wider distribution.
This Brothers Bloom is a quirky, romantic, action packed adventure with many twists and turns. There are some things you think are going to happen that don't and vice versa. The ending to this move is superb. Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi are absolutely hilarious in this movie. Weisz's character crashes a Lamborghini a few times and she just comes out aloof and does it again. There is even a scene of her skateboarding which is funny (albeit, most of that scene is in the previews). Rinko Kikuchi is silent about 98% of the movie but her physical actions and faces are just superb. She gets my vote as MVP of The Brothers Bloom.
The only reason I didn't give The Brothers Bloom 5 stars is that there is just something about it that just doesn't wow me to the point of perfection. I can't quite place it, but there is something missing that would give it that oomph to be a perfect movie. Still, this movie is definitely in my top 10 list for this year, and I am absolutely going to include this in my dvd collection. If you liked movies such as Oceans 11 or The Italian Job then you will love The Brothers Bloom as well.
Movie Review photo credit: Amazon.com
Overall Movie Review Rating: I rate this movie as a Great See - 4.5 stars
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