REVIEWED - THE BROTHERS GRIMM: This much-troubled gothic re-invention of the early life of the Brothers Grimm certainly offers pleasures for fans of the weird and horrible, writes Donald Clarke.
Shoddy werewolves, looking like the men-in-suits they are not, bustle about a bewitched forest whose artificial trees and ersatz mists are much less convincing than those in the recent Wallace and Gromit flick. An ancient, desiccated witch, whose reflection reveals that she once looked like Monica Bellucci, lies atop a crumbling tower waiting for rejuvenation. The whole thing is shot in nauseatingly ugly shades that suggest both vintage British horror and the freakily weird 1970s TV show The Singing Ringing Tree.
If The Brothers Grimm had emerged from some obscure European source, we might be praising it as a promising, bargain-basement romp. Sadly, the film actually cost $75 million and is directed by Terry Gilliam, a film-maker of no little distinction. Putting so much money together with so much talent clearly does not guarantee coherence or consistency of tone.
Gilliam and Bob Weinstein, head of Dimension Studios, have been engaged in a very public tug of war, with Ehren Kruger's script as the rope. In the process they've stomped the film to pieces.
Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, both rather good, play the two brothers as a pair of conmen who concoct witches and demons which, for a considerable fee, they then eliminate for terrified Prussian villagers. Things turn peculiar when an officer from the occupying French forces, played with relish by Gilliam's old chum Jonathan Pryce, forces them to investigate a remote village where children are going missing. It transpires that real magic is afoot.
Though this agreeably vulgar film is never boring, nothing about it - despite its spending a year in the editing suite - seems properly finished. Peter Stormare's outrageous turn as the boys' French babysitter needs to be reined in. Female lead Lena Headey, by contrast, requires a serious infusion of energy. Meanwhile, the special effects look no more impressive than those Neil Jordan used 20 years ago for his superficially similar The Company of Wolves. A fairytale with a distinctly unhappy ending then.
