The Brothers Bloom - Fun Times in Con Times

The Brothers Bloom is a con film. It makes no pretense about it. And the biggest problem with a con movie? The audience knows it's a con.

Since the audience knows the movie is a con movie, they (we) look for the con. Con are suprising to the mark, because they think everything is real; but if you know it's not real, then the interest is lost. It's like knowing the ending to a M. Night Shyamalan movie. Eh, who cares.

The most common way a con movie curbs this issue is to explain the con as it is happening, not before. Still as an avid movie-watcher, one still looks for the con ("Is this part of the con? or is this real?"). The more con movies you watch the more familiar one becomes with the different kinds of cons.

As such it is difficult to surprise the audience with a con movie. The Brothers Bloom did it for me. Sure I spent the entire film questioning various elements, but there were still twists I did not anticipate, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Brothers Bloom is a good con film...

...but not perfect. Ironically it is not the con element that cripples the film, it's Adrien Brody's performance. It's true I do not like the man, and that may be why I see through his acting, all the time. He is unbelievable in a bad way. He is not believable as the characters he plays, and this movie is no exception. In fact, regardless of whether the plot/story could have been tighter (which I think it could have been. I still had plenty of questions afterwards.), Adrien Brody's character was confusing and irrational. It is unclear what his motivation is, and I can't decide whether that is because Adrien Brody couldn't convey the feelings and emotions he was supposed to or that the character's purpose was to push the other various elements of the story along.

Either way the overrall experience is actually a good one. Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane and others give fantastic performances. Although this is only Rian Johnson's second feature film, he gives the film character. This is a fun, cool con film.