The Brothers Grimm Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
Eliminating Evil Since 1812
No curse we can't reverse. No spell we can't break. No demon we can't exterminate.
Fall Under The Spell
Once Upon A Time
This Isn't The Way To Grandmother's House
Who's The Fairest Of Them All
If You Go Down To The Woods Today You'll Never Believe Your Eyes
And They Lived Happily Ever After
Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. They are put to the test, however, when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.
| Petr Ratimec | Young Will |
| Barbora Lukesová | Mother Grimm |
| Anna Rust | Sister Grimm |
| Jeremy Robson | Young Jacob |
| Matt Damon | Wilhelm Grimm |
| Heath Ledger | Jacob Grimm |
| Martin Hofmann | Gendarme |
| Josef Pepa Nos | German War Veteran |
| Harry Gilliam | Stable Boy |
| Miroslav Táborský | Old Miller |
| Roger Ashton-Griffiths | Mayor |
| Marika Sarah Procházková | Miller's Daughter |
| Mackenzie Crook | Hidlick |
| Richard Ridings | Bunst |
| Monica Bellucci | Mirror Queen |
| Terry Gilliam |
5.90 out of 10 (20071 votes)
Visitor Reviews
The Brothers are boring
posted on 26 Aug 2009After a seven year absence from the directors chair (lengthened by the abortive attempt at filming The Man Who Killed Don Quixote), Terry Gilliam has stepped back behind the camera to bring us The Brothers Grimm. While I applaud Gilliam's return in any form, it's unfortunate that The Brothers Grimm is the herald of his return. While it has it's occasional charms, Grimm is a grim affair for the most part, indeed. With a lackluster screenplay, glacial pacing and little character development to care about, Brothers Grimm proves to return Gilliam with a whimper, not a bang.The film creates a fictional reality where the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger), move from town to town, discover ancient legends of demons or witches for that region, and then create an elaborate hoax to then demand money from the residents of the area to "take care" of their problem. The brothers are eventually found out by a French general (Jonathan Pryce) and order to go to a small German village where children have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances. The general believes it to be the work of hucksters like the Brothers Grimm. Upon arrival at the village, the Brothers are led into the nearby woods by a local tracker, Angelika (Laura Headey), whom both Jacob and Wilhelm become smitten with. It is in the forest that strange happenings begin to manifest: trees that appear to move under their own power, a wolf that shows more personality than your typical four-legged beast and a giant tower that reportedly holds the spirit of a cursed Queen (Monica Bellucci) who desires to live forever. The brothers quickly reach the conclusion that this is no hoax, but a real haunting and try to solve the mystery of the Queen and the tower before the entire town is claimed.It's obvious The Brothers Grimm desires to be comedy and a romance, along with a fantasy. Unfortunately, it doesn't really succeed at being any one of them well. Yes, there are a few chuckles here and there, but nothing really outrageously funny. The romance is dead on arrival and while there are fantastical elements, there is nothing to really hold your attention. The Brothers Grimm's first problem is it's lack of character depth. None of the films characters really register at all. Matt Damon is a capable actor who has held the attention of the audience well in two Bourne movies, but here he is completely without depth or interest as Wilhelm. Heath Ledger's Jacob is even more of a dead weight than his on-screen brother. The film's romantic triangle between Wilhelm, Jacob and Angelika is completely without any fire whatsoever. I felt no chemistry between any of these characters at all and couldn't really care if any of them ended up with the other or not. As the film builds to it's climax, all I could feel is indifference to the on-screen events since I cared nothing for the characters.Gilliam is well known for crafting good-looking pictures, and The Brothers Grimm is not different. It's production design is remarkable and eye-catching. However, at least one key element of the film, a wolf that threatens characters at multiple instances, is one of the least convincing computer animated characters I have seen on screen in years. It is enormously cartoony and unrealistic, belying it's computer generated nature. When the wolf is on screen, you can't help but notice it's an effect.All in all, the Brothers Grimm is a listless fable that had some interesting potential to re-examine famous fairy tales, but doesn't deliver on any level. I have a feeling this is one fairy tale few parents will share with their children.
A Grim Movie
posted on 24 Aug 2009Unlike some viewers, I found the effects seamless and I loved the look of everything. The problem was the Brothers were too much in superhero mode and there was no sense of peril. They joked and walked through everything effortlessly. The Italian Torturer was over the top and annoying. The French were annoying too, but not as much. Somehow I felt that Terry Gilliam thinks that over-the-top stereotypes of French and Italians are funny. Yeah, in little doses, but I think I OD'ed.The plot lacked direction. The characters aimlessly wandered from the village to the forest, to the village, to the castle, to the village, to the forest, etc. There was a lot of physical movement, but no movement in the story.There are some very nice scenes which reminded me of several famous paintings and those were lovely. The mirror effects (cleavage is more ample in the mirror :-) and the were-transformations were very well done.
Not Gilliam's finest hour
posted on 20 Aug 2009"Nothing makes sense here," shouts one of the titular brothers Grimm during the film's finale, and he pretty much hits the nail on the head. Terry Gilliam's latest fantasy is not confusing as such, but it is arbitrary.Gilliam has crafted a warped fairytale with his usual flair, but a combination of odd plotting and an overload of caricature means that this is more akin to the director's excesses in Baron Munchausen than his successes with 12 Monkeys or The Fisher King.The story concerns Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), a pair of con men who fleece credulous rustic-types by offering to exterminate supernatural beasts of their own creation. They become unstuck, however, when a Napoleonic officer orders them to sort out an apparently genuine haunting.Part of the problem is that the haunting is obviously genuine, causing the plot to haemorrhage tension at a time when it should be building. Logic is also an early casualty - not unusual for a Gilliam film, necessarily, but damaging in a film whose fairytale base requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.In the final confrontation one of the brothers must break a spell. He has no idea how, and nor do we. The solution, like most of the plot developments, is plucked from nowhere.That said, there are beautifully conceived moments and fine gags that will possibly rescue the film for viewers who are not overly keen on plot. My favourite moment was when, at the mention of "The Trapper", everyone in the village spits. The chorus of gobbing continues for several seconds until it stops with a final "ding" of spittle hitting a spittoon.But I found there to be as many clunkers as laughs. The cast members act their little socks off, but by the third time the brothers traipse in and out of the enchanted forest I had concluded that this was no Gilliam classic.
A fairy tale for adults ensues.
posted on 16 Aug 2009At no point in the development process of The Brothers Grimm did anybody set out to create a film that would one day air on A&E's Biography. Instead, Terry Gilliam has chosen to take the real life Grimm Brothers, wrap them up into the fictional, fairy tale world they created within their stories, and create a fairy tale about *them*.The result is a visually impressive story that follows the brothers' rise from frauds to heroes, all within the context of humor, fantasy, horror, and romance. If you're part of the growing number of moviegoers who constantly complains that nothing fresh and original ever comes out of Hollywood then here's an alternative. However, you might want to leave the children at home. Gilliam has delivered a somewhat dark fairy tale for an older crowd, and he obviously didn't bother himself with making sure this was safe for the average kindergartener. Thank goodness.The Brothers Grimm feels like it was made for those of us who grew up with Grimm fairy tales, so you need to pay close attention for the clever nods to characters from the original stories (particularly Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel, and The Gingerbread Man). I've seen the movie twice, and I was surprised to find that I caught quite a few things the second time I saw the movie that I missed the first time around.A lot of the references are subtle and won't be appreciated by the average moviegoer who has no reference to the source material. I overheard one teenage boy at the screening sarcastically remark, "What's next, the Big Bad Wolf? Why is the Gingerbread Man in this?" Hey man, do you read much? Ever break away from action movies starring Ice Cube? No? Then try heading to the library someday, indulge in a little self-education, and broaden those movie horizons.Keeping in mind that Gilliam decided to let his off-the-wall imagination run wild every now and then, you might want to forewarn any friends that are animal lovers. I have one friend who doesn't mind seeing humans get killed left and right in movies, but she's reluctant to see any movie where an animal suffers fictional harm. Go figure. I don't want to reveal too much, but there's one scene in particular where I actually found myself audibly saying, "Oh man." I laughed, and I should probably feel guilty about it, but nah, every now and then it's healthy for us to allow the darker side of our sense of humor to prevail.Do things get a little goofy, a little cartoonish, and a little over-the-top at times? Of course! It's directed by the only American-born actor from Monty Python, so what else are you expecting? If you're willing to embrace a small amount of your PG-13 dark side, and you love letting yourself get wrapped up in fantasy and fairy tale worlds, then you very likely well find a lot to enjoy in The Brothers Grimm.
better than what most give credit for
posted on 15 Aug 2009just got back from seeing The Brothers Grimm and like all of terry gilliams movies i thought it was excellent.granted it is not one of his best it does deserve acclaim for being an entertaining film.the production design is just incredible as so are the special effects. i don't give it a perfect score because it isn't perfect.i'm not sure whether it was the theatre that i saw it in or not but alot of the film is dark and i thought could have been better lit, even if alot of the film takes place either in the dark or indoors by candle light.how happy i was to see jonathan pryce back, as he's good in everything that i've ever seen him in.damon and ledger do credible jobs,especially ledger, even if their english accents aren't the best.as with all of gilliams films it is extremely imaginative and well done.i am looking forward to the dvd release and hope that they'll be a making of doc.yet another gilliam film to add to my collection.
Awful, incoherent mess.
posted on 15 Aug 2009This movie's only redeeming quality is the visual effects... as an artist, I have to admire their efforts. But other than that, the movie is just unwatchably bad.
There just isn't a coherent plot. The movie jumps from place to place, throwing in random events that leave you staring in confusion at the screen. Every time you think the story has settled down from its bizarre wandering, another case of poor editing shows up to shatter that illusion.
Add in bad acting, awful "humor", and you'll be looking at your clock wondering how much more you have to sit through.
One of the worst films ever!
posted on 13 Aug 2009I'm a big Terry Gillam fan...Brazil was genius...but this movie will go down as one of the worst of all time! Boring story, painfully acted and visually dreadful. We wasted 60 minutes of our lives hoping it would get better before we finally gave up. I have never in my life asked for a refund until Brothers Grimm. The theater manager gave a knowing nod and cheerfully refunded us our money. Too bad I can't get a refund for those 60 minutes of my life that was stolen. Miramax/Disney should be ashamed for putting this film into release.
A Rainy Day Piece of Scary Moment Fantasy Fun
posted on 10 Aug 2009OK, so, if your planning to go see 'The Brothers Grimm', skip the first, oh say, thirty minutes of it and then I think you will enjoy it. It isn't that the movie starts out slow, on the contrary, the editing and camera work is dizzying, and to no effect. The premise is intriguing though. Will and Jake Grimm are traveling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms. Finally, somewhere around reel 3 a plot, almost as far-fetched as why Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are in this film, starts to develop. After an ending that was scarily close to going too long, I wasn't sure what I just watched.At some moments, you are sure you are watching a comedy, but not an American one, a Monty Python, anti-French kind of funny. Probably because the director is the one who brought us all those hilarious irreverent animations back in those Holy Grail days. Other times, it really wants to be an action film, but even with all the nice effects of moving trees and demonically aged women, the plot is to muddied, more so than the peculiarly constant mud covered set. It is labeled as a fantasy, but it tries, and surprisingly succeeds to be more of a horror flick, during the absolutely chilling Gingerbread man sequence, and the Spider/Horse/Childeating business. But it never really picks up one of these genres and runs with it.The actors in the film are used more as props for action set pieces by director Terry Gilliam than characters, making it hard to understand why the talents of Ledger and Damon were drawn to it. A majority of their lines consist of, 'Did you see/hear that?' or a variation on that theme. As for the writing, the entire French General was a great idea with possibilities, but ends up dragging the story down with the subplot, and Jonathan Pryce is trying his best to hold the French line, but in the end, that entire part of the story is slush, but slush with a few lovely period costumes.In the end, I realized that this movie really was a dynamic journey, not so much for the characters in the film, but for me. I went from really wanting to like it, to almost walking out, to being terrified by a glob of walking mud, and coming close to cheering for the heroes at the end, even the lieutenant with the overused hairpiece bit. I would say its a great kids action flick, but it goes to far into scary land, it is by no means your traditional date flick, although the date movie looks are to be found in Monica Bellucci, Matt Damon, and Heath Ledger, and Lena Heady. But drama it is not. This film is a novelty, a rainy day piece of scary moment fantasy fun. Not something to put on your to-do list, but if the opportunity pops up, go for it, if for nothing else but to play 'spot the actor' or count how many different fairy tale sightings there are.C-
Weird
posted on 04 Aug 2009Yes, The Brothers Grimm has good acting. They did a very good job of casting. Matt Daemon and Heath Ledger do as good a job as anyone could, maybe a little better, but I'm surprised they didn't have a silent "what the hey are we doing?" expression on they're faces somewhere near the end of the film.Anyways, the film is about these two con artists. They're brothers, they go around Europe tricking people into paying them to get rid of monsters that don't even exist. But they soon get themselves into a strange situation that requires authentic bravery rather then the bogus junk they usually do. I guess fake bad guys require fake heroism to destroy.The villain in the film is an evil queen of some sort who laid around rotting for the last 500 years controlling a wide variety of random fairy tale characters so that they can drag a bunch of little girls into the forest and sacrifice them to the queen so that she may return to the world of the living and cause a ruckus. Needless to say, The Brothers Grimm prove themselves to be true heroes and come save the day.All in all, this film is a jamboree of bad CGI, horrible camera work, and random jump scenes. Watch only if your bored. It is funny to see Heath Ledger dancing at the end, tough.
A Light Romp Through the Grimm Woods
posted on 04 Aug 2009My rating is based on my love of strange, unclassifiable films that make me laugh. There haven't been many films in the past five years that have an absurd, comedic element. The closest I can think of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but for these types of films, The Brothers Grimm delivers. There are touches of Monty Python humor and some amazing visual effects scattered through out. Gilliam captures the look of another time amazingly well. People have bad teeth, dirty clothes, messy hair and poor hygiene. This creates a great back-drop for the hauntingly beautiful actresses in the film. It's lighter than Gilliam's more recent films, but it had a wacky pacing more like Time Bandits. I like when a movie doesn't try to spoon-feed me. There's an interesting dynamic that goes on between the brothers and their relationship to magic. What other reviewers call distractions were entertaining and creative tangents that always had some element to help the viewer understand the characters better. It was so refreshing to see a film without product placement. Gilliam has a talent for creating a totally different reality. There were a lot of fun elements in The Brothers Grimm. It reminded me of eating a bunch of Jellybellies (lot's of variety, fun surprises like the red inside the watermelon flavor, and weird flavors like when you bite into a coconut one and get a popcorn one instead). Unfortunately, I know someone is going to compare it to Bertie Bott's Beans. Oh well.This film is not for everyone. There are some gruesome parts that are not for the squeamish (I'm an animal lover and had to cover my eyes for one scene, there's no sugar-coating). Also I would have changed or deleted the last five minutes of the movie. If you like fairy tales and fun adventures, this might be for you, but don't expect a deep film like Brazil.
Some Gilliam delights...but i still need a director's cut....
posted on 04 Aug 2009I sat down to this movie with a knot in my stomach, the knot i get when i think that one of my movie idols is about to throw at me some garbage that will ruin my view of them forever.When the first 20-25 minutes began, the knot didn't loosen much...although i could see that there could be some spirited performances from the leading ladies, and there might be some fantastic production design, the pacing and editing was just thrown out of the window. I had little idea of what was going on (what is this whole thing about beans got to do with anything?), and it just seemed very thrown together. No character development, no....anything really. I was a tad distraught. But i think i should explain.Gilliam came to this movie knowing that he would have to capitulate to what the studios wanted, and he thought he could do it. Although, when he added all of his little quirks to the script himself, it became his baby, and he just couldn't let the weinsteins touch it. However, unlike his other movies, they had the ultimate decision on what was to happen. There was cast squabbling, script squabbling, design squabbling....in the end, Gilliam was fighting so hard in the editing room for the film he wanted to make, he had to sacrifice continuity. It's not an excuse, it's a reason.However, to my utter delight, when the movie reached its main point (in the enchanted forest), and there was not a particular need for a linear storyline, Gilliam finally beat the weinsteins and we began to see the movie that he wanted to make.Everyone gives decent to above average performances, although Stormare can sometimes be a little irritating as Cavaldi and Damon's accent did waiver at times. However, it's Mr. Ledger's bumbling Jacob that deserves special mention. Ledger played outside of his usual leading-man comfort zone (10 things, Knight's tale) to create a truly endearing character, even if he only gets the screen time he deserves in the last ten minutes.However, saying all of this, there is much that needs to be changed. However, i have faith in Gilliam, and if he can somehow get a director's cut out there, this movie could be a bit of a gem...
Ugghhhh.. Horrible
posted on 03 Aug 2009We have decided to only rate Amazon movies from now on that are either GREAT on one extreme or HORRIBLE on the other.
Brothers Grimm had a great premise, great sets, etc...
The ingredients seemed right but the movie was OH SO PAINFUL AND ANNOYING TO WATCH..... very deadpan humor, stiff acting, silly Jerry Lewis slapstick comedy..... just overall a dreadfully painful movie experience to sit thru.
My wife and the guests we had over for movie night all agreed this movie got a "D" on the normal grading scale.
Horrible
posted on 03 Aug 2009Horrible film, full of cheap shots and horrible special FX. I rented it and wish I had saved the four dollars. Do yourself a favor and don't bother even reading the synopsis on the back, you may get lured in by the pretty packaging and wind up cursing the names of the director, actors and producers far into the night and maybe even the next day.
An overall pleasing movie
posted on 02 Aug 2009This movie is full of adventure, humor, family love, fantasy, and a few scary moments. I decided to see this movie after looking through a national geographic on the brothers Grimm from several years ago. I also decided I would see this movie because of the fantasy in it. I went to the movie with high expectations and came out extremely pleased. I love how the director tied in at least 10-15 fairy tales in the movie and how one of the brothers kept track of all of the stories. This movie reminds me of an adult fairy tale that was well worth my seven bucks to see it. I do recommend, however, reading all of the Grimm's fairy tales before seeing this movie because some parts need the assistance of a fairy tale to be understood. I would recommend this movie to fantasy lovers anybody who wants to see a great movie and be touched by the love two brothers can have for each other.
so disappointing
posted on 25 Jul 2009The film isn't at all what you think its going to be... very good special effects, but thats about it. Not even damon and ledger could save it for me. There's an odd special effect involving a gingerbread person (im trying not to give anything away here) but it's unnecessarily creepy and totally unrelating to the plot.all in all very disappointing. it seemed like a film that was 4 hours cut down to 2 so that it now makes very little sense and has no plot. WHY OH WHY DID THEY MAKE THIS FILM? Quite a waste of time, and something you should wait to borrow from a friend if you're curious.
Bizarre
posted on 25 Jul 2009This was one weird movie.Individually it has some decent and even good parts, and looking back at it from the end, there was some coherent process. However, while watching it I was just confused. There were bits and pieces of various fairy tales mixed up and blended and cut and pasted together into one confusing concoction. Occasionally I found myself just thinking "what the crap?!". Really bizarre, with the occasional real freaky parts and comic relief.Overall I would say its a decent one time movie (actually probably better as a rental, cause then you can watch it twice, in the hope that it might make more sense the second time). It had an interesting premise, but I think it could have been carried through better.
Dreadful.
posted on 25 Jul 2009Honestly one of the worst movies of the Summer.It was hard to tell where exactly they were going with this film right from the beginning! I still couldn't tell exactly what genre it was aiming for, comedy, fantasy, horror? There was no plot! Even when it did aim a bit for comedy, the jokes were fit for a children's movie, which this is not.Half of the time, characters were *out* of character, and villains were ambiguous. I got no feel for any of the characters on account of the fact that their personalities kept changing. Most of the Grimm's "Fairy Tales" were mutilated and stretched. They tried to fit too much into a short movie, and it became riddled with gaping plot holes. Too many things made no sense. The background/set CG was gorgeous, but the little stuff was poorly done. On top of all this, the actors' accents were horrible, too. I had a lot of hope for this movie, and it was a total waste of time and money. I'll just stick with "The 10th Kingdom"~!
Worst movie ever!
posted on 23 Jul 2009This has to be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. At about the middle of the movie a kitten is walking along in the dungeon when one of the characters kicks it into a spinning blade where it is cut to pieces. Blood gets spattered on one of the characters faces, and he proceeds to lick it off and say "mmmmmm." There is seemingly no reason for this scene. It has nothing to do with anything that's going on and is just plane sick. Other than that and another horrifying scene involving a bunny's skin being ripped off, the movie just plane sucks. The CGI is about the worst I've seen. And the movie is just plane bad. I stopped watching half way through because I couldn't waste any more of my life on this garbage. The director should have the same fate as the kitten in my opinion.
trailer premise great, movie disappointing
posted on 30 Aug 2009We were disappointed by The Brothers Grimm. The impression we got from watching the movie trailer was that it would be a comedy with some horror and drama tossed in for good measure. When the movie turned out to be primarily a horror with some drama and comedy thrown in, we were surprised in not the best of ways. While there were amusing scenes, movie overall seemed to be a tad tedious and somewhat boring. Character development definitely lacked and while the Italian henchman sent to keep watch on the brothers Grimm was entertaining, he would have been far more interesting if developed past one dimension. The story premise overall would have been far more entertaining with a bit of horror and more comedy and a tad bit of drama, in that order. Two actors, Heath Ledger and Matt Damon are quite adept at delivering comedic cues but it seemed in this movie that they were way over their heads. WHile I would like to see these two teamed up again, they shouldn't be put in a movie that crosses genre bounds the way The Brothers Grimm does. They'd be better suited to an action adventure or pure comedy.