THE BROTHERS BLOOM (Mild Spoilers)

Dir. Rian Johnson USA 2009

Brick, Rian Johnson's 2005 directorial debut was my favorite movie of that year and has gone on to become one of my favorite movies of all time. It was love at first sight, evidenced by the fact that I bought the DVD before I'd even seen it, something I almost never do. With its gerne-bending combination of 1940's noir and 21st century high school politics, Brick was exactly the type of movie I would have liked to have made. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to see what Johnson's next effort would be.

The Brothers Bloom differs greatly from Brick in both tone and intent, but the marks of what made the latter great are easy to see in the former. A twisty, complex plot, subtlely clever visual cues and a small, but memorable cast of characters. I was delighted to find that Johnson was able to maintain much of what had made Brick so incredible without showing any signs of repetition or one-hit-wonder syndrome.

The film tells the story of Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody), the titular brothers who, thanks to a lifetime of practice and training, have become the world's greatest con artists. Their confidence games, planned with loving and elaborate detail by Stephen, are not so much schemes as they are sweeping stories of adventure and intrigue in which everyone, even their marks, ends up with what they want. Despite a life of international travel (the movies locations include Berlin, Prague and Mexico), beautiful women (specifically a cameo by Brick's femme fatale Nora Zehetner) and dashing attire (I wish I could rock the rumpled suit/skinny tie/fedora combo as well as Brody or Ruffalo), Bloom eventually finds himself longing for a life where he doesn't have to lie to people about who he is. Stephen takes it upon himself to concoct a final con that will give both brothers what they want, although the true nature of their desires does not become apparent until the final minutes of the film. Stephen's plan involves swindling an eccentric, hobby collecting heiress (the devastatingly charming Rachel Weisz), whom Bloom promptly falls in love with. Crazy plot twists ensue and the questions of who is playing who escalate to dizzying heights as the movie goes on.

It's common, when dealing with stories about con men, for the stories to become predictable in their unpredictableness. There's always going to be that last minute turn, that extremely trustworthy character who turns out to be deceptive, that red herring that's not actually a red herring, etc. While Rian Johnson employes some of these tropes in the telling of his story, his witty sensibilities and the almost fairy tale nature of the narration serve to keep even the most jaded viewer invested in the story.

The opening sequence presents the best example of this. Acting almost as a short film within a film, the first ten minutes of the movie show the brothers as young boys being deposited in one of a string of suburban foster homes where they proceed to scam the local children out of their pocket money before being caught and shipped off to the next town. With its rhyming, Seuessian narration (provided by Ricky Jay, the magician/actor who memorably played gay card sharp Eddie Sawyer on HBO's Deadwood), the prologue is both its own satisfying narrative and a perfect set-up for the film to come. Bloom is seen falling for a local girl, only to loose her to Stephen's scheming (setting up a beautiful graphic match at the end of the film) and Stephen is show remaining one step ahead of every party involved, even after they've been caught. It's a perfect example of straight-forward, yet effective character building. Also, the fact that their outfits have not changed since childhood is hilarious.

Other reviews I've read have compared the tone and mood of the film to a Wes Anderson movie. While there is some validity in this (its basically impossible at this point to have quirky characters or any kind of retro-hipster style in a movie without it being compared to Wes Anderson), I think Johnson overtakes Anderson in both his direction and characterization. Anderson's movies are essentially colorful storyboards, charming images painted in wide shots and fussily arranged compositions. Johnson has a fluidity to his direction that allows for both artfully composed shots (the shot early on of Bloom in front of the graffiti is brilliant, you'll know it when you see it) and a textured, tactile world that feels real despite its fanciful nature. Also, while Wes Anderson's characters range from hiply aloof to hiply aloof with the occasional emotional outburst, every character in The Brothers Bloom feels capable of supporting their own movie, with nuance and emotional range that complements the stellar cast.

So let's talk about the cast (I rule at transitions). Adrien Brody does a great job as Bloom and easily carries the weight of the narrative with his performance, but I think the more challenging role was that of Stephen. Where Bloom wears his heart on his sleeve, Stephen remains a mystery for much of the film, walking a fine line between unknowably mysterious and outwardly friendly. Mark Ruffalo plays him with his usual warmth, blending the joking protectiveness of an older brother and the sinister charm of a con man into a believable and ultimately captivating character.

Rinko Kicuchi (following her similarly mute role in Babel) plays Bang Bang, the brothers assistant, a sexy Japanese explosives expert who only knows three words of English. Those three words are used to varied and hilarious effect during the film and Kicuchi's otherwise silent performance makes for some of the more amusing visual gags in the film.

One could argue that I'm biased toward Rachel Weisz (she possesses a perfection I have dubbed the Kate Winslet Effect: beautiful, curvy, English accent and a hell of an actress), but I found her Penelope to be the most engaging character in the film. The role strays a little too close to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype (see Natalie Portman in Garden State for the most undiluted example of that character) but Weisz is able to bring a multi-dimensional pathos to the character of an extremely lonely, extremely strange woman with a desire for adventure and romance. Her performance ranges from hilarious (the decidedly un-ninja like grace with which she battles the Prague police) to tragic (her realization that she's being used by the brothers) to sexy (her dance sequence with Brody on the cruise ship) to all three (her drunken, rambling assessment of Bloom's emotional problems on the train). The fact that this movie made me love her more than I already did would alone warrant it a glowing review.

In case you haven't guessed, The Brothers Bloom was one of the best movies I'd seen in a long time. It utilizes its wonderful cast to great effect, creates a interesting and complex narrative and gives me great assurances that Rian Johnson is on his way to a long and illustrious career.