Review of The Brothers Grimm (2005) by Mark Z — 15 Jul 2012

This adult live-action version of Shrek follows the Grimm brothers (who were, as you may know, real-live (fairy) tale collectors and also dictionary authors.

It's another one of Terry Gilliam's exercises in surreal nightmares, consisting of haunting images, great production design but kinda sloppy special effects.

Like with so many of his films he had huge problems with his producers over his creative vision and budgetary concerns. Usually, old Terry tends to crush his contradictors and create HIS film no matter what. This time, the Weinstein brothers were at helm though and they just didn't back down from what I've read. So, The Brothers Grimm is more blockbuster material than Gilliam's usual films but lacks some of his very own magic.

Considering the problems during production they managed to make a pretty decent movie though. It's haunting and nightmarish when it needs to be and quite tense in the action parts. Heath Ledger is great as Jake Grimm and he has decent chemistry with his in-film brother Matt Damon.

Unfortunately, the plot can't hold up with the charismatic lead duo and merely finds the right pace to tell its story.

Here's a really great premise but the final product is neither fish nor fowl. That's possibly due to the hampered production process and it's a really pity how good of a film this could have been.