Susan Granger’s review of “The Brothers Grimm” (Dimension Films & M.G.M.)
Once Upon a Time…back in early 19th century Germany, there were two young storytellers who envisioned a world filled with demons, witches, sorcerers and wicked queens. This is not exactly their tale – but almost – or, as one says, “Life’s little subterfuges make it all worthwhile.” As a child, Jake (Heath Ledger) was gullible, bringing home “magic” beans instead of food, eliciting derision from his cynical brother Will (Matt Damon). Yet within a few years, both are earning a meager living as con men, spinning webs of deception and delusion, convincing superstitious villagers that they can vanquish evil spirits. Their reputation attracts the attention of Napoleon’s wily Governor (Jonathan Pryce) who dispatches them to Marbaden, where several little girls have gone missing in the forest. Under the watchful eye of his dastardly aide (Peter Stromare), Jake and Will are forced to enter a spooky realm of curses and crows, crones and crypts – where fantasy meshes with reality inside the evil 500 year-old Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci). Their only guide is a trapper (Lena Headley), who warns them, “Don’t trust the trees!” Supremely suited to direct this richly visual, surreal, topsy-turvy adventure, Terry Gilliam (“The Fisher King,” “Twelve Monkeys,” “Brazil”) relishes every moment of Ehren Krueger’s light-hearted screenplay that interweaves fragments of Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel with Monty Pythonesque humor. None of this should, however, be confused with the real Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, patriotic scholars who collected folklore so the German people could be proud of their culture. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Brothers Grimm” is an imaginative, enchanting 8, convincing us that “Truth is never more terrible than fiction.”
