The Brothers Grimm (12A) (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

The Brothers Grimm (12A)

THE fantastic world of the master fairytale weaving Grimm brothers and the fevered imagination of film-maker Terry Gilliam was always going to be a fascinating combination.

It was the darkness behind stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel that was the main appeal to the man who gave us warped nightmare visions of our future world in the likes of Brazil and Twelve Monkeys.

Gilliam has used this sadistic side to his creativity to make a film that mingles the downright bizarre with broad comedy.

And it almost works.

We are in a murky 19th century Germany held in the grip of Napoleonic law, and the superstitious people are understandably a little jumpy.

Will and Jacob Grimm (Damon and Ledger) roam the countryside seeking out fairy stories for their collection, and at the same time becoming something of a pair of superheroes as, using their knowledge of such things as witches and demons, they rid communities of evil influences, with their own brand of magic, weaponry and bravery. And they get paid handsomely for doing it.

But Will and Jacob, clearly experts at spinning a yarn, are really just a pair of con-men. They prey on the gullibility of the locals, and get out of town before the simpletons realise they have been duped.

But the authorities are onto them and force the brothers to travel to a village in the grip of a curse which sees young maidens disappearing and the locals living in fear of an enchanted forest.

Is there a logical explanation for what is taking place? Or are the Grimms confronted by their first genuine fairy tale?

It is to Gilliam's credit that he has chosen not to make a straight biopic of the Grimms, which in itself would probably have been a very interesting film.

But conventional isn't a word in this director's vocabulary and, for good or bad, he will take the long and winding road when other film-makers would choose something more straight and narrow.

Hence The Brothers Grimm, scripted by Ehren Kruger, who wrote the Hollywood remake of The Ring, takes us into unfamiliar territory, although there are hints of many familiar stories from our childhoods peppered throughout.

The main thrust of the narrative the brothers are storytellers and con artists is actually a simple, and amusing, one. It is with the execution of it that Gilliam lets rip and he allows the fantasy element of his story come into play, with grotesque characters, dark, tangled forests and mud-soaked villages.

It all looks quite splendid and The Brothers Grimm harks back to earlier Gilliam movies such as Jabberwocky in its idea of fairy tale as horror story.

But the film's fantastic visuals get in the way of what the story is quite simply all about storytelling. Certainly the middle third of the film is muddled, with too much running around and shouting distracting from the narrative backbone.

It serves only to get in the way of what should be an enjoyable couple of hours, as does some desperate over-acting, which is never the comic relief it is so clearly supposed to be.

And what of the brothers themselves? With two big(ish) Hollywood actors taking the lead roles, there should be enough charisma here to command attention, and while both actors are attractive young men, the spark is missing from their performances in this film. The Brothers Grimm is by no means a grim movie but it is a disappointing one, considering the talent involved.

6/10

By Stephen Webb

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Headey

Director: Terry Gilliam

Certificate 12A, 118 minutes