The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom, as played by Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo, are con men, and pretty successful at it. Mark Ruffalo plays Stephen, who conjures up the elaborate schemes, or plays as he calls them, with his brother as the main protagonist. Adrien Brody is Bloom, and yes, isn't this so cute that one brother is called by his first name and the other his last. The problem with the film is that it isn't sure what it wants to be, a cutesy comedy, or, an elaborate "con" film in the tradition of David Mamet. The "mark" is played by Rachel Weisz, a rich eccentric who is both in on the scheme, in addition to being its mark. She's a troubled and lonely "hobby" collector, and apparently born to be swindled. In my opinion the film is too cute for its own good, and as a result is only partly successful as either a comedy or drama. You never quite feel the tension of the situation as you would in some of the classic Mamet films, such as House of Games or The Spanish Prisoner, nor is there much laughter going on. The brothers employ a Japanese assistant called Bang Bang who never speaks. The gimmick wears thin as the film goes on. On the positive side, the performances are all excellent, and the film has a great beginning, where the brothers boyhood origins as con men are explored. There are also some good set pieces within the film that are enjoyable in spite of the fact that things don't quite work as a whole. Like real life brothers, there's good and bad.

Rating - 2 Stars