Writer: Rian Johnson
Runtime: 113 min
If you liked Rian Johnson's first feature, the 2005 drama/mystery Brick (link), well, that's good for you, but I don't think it will be any indication of how you'll enjoy The Brothers Bloom. In fact, in some sense both of these movies draw on a weird counterplay, as if one perfectly complements the other (and I mean completements in the sense that one is everything that the other is not), and this is an idea I just came up with now, in the midst of writing this sentence. Follow closely: Brick, a cold, gritty tale of drugs and intrigue, is set against an almost satirical backdrop--a suburban high school. While it's not a stretch to say that lives hang in the balance in high school, especially these days, with relationships taking on far too much meaning and cliques and drug use controlling many kids' lives, very, very few students would take such a hard-nosed detective approach as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Brendan. Johnson stylizes this contrast in two classic scenes: Brendan's iron-fist, closed-door meeting with the school's Vice Principal (on the seriousness of his demeanor), and his kitchen table confrontation with The Pin during which The Pin's mother interrupts with glasses of orange juice (on the relative absurdity of the setting). Now let's view the flipside, The Brothers Bloom: there are literally millions of dollars at stake, handsful* of lives, ancient artifacts, yachts, museums, Russians, guns, bombs, all the stereotypical things you'd associate with the crime/drama genre. Yet it's posed in a pretty comedic fashion. Saccharine characters, high-stakes schemes with little palpable threat of impending doom, quick pacing, and a feel for dialogue that seems to come from the 50s. Not that the "swashbuckling adventure" hasn't been done before, but the interesting thing to me is the flip of tone.
Quick Synopsis: Bloom (Adrien Brody) and Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) are brothers (I must have missed the part where the name Brothers Bloom makes sense) who take to the art of the con. Bloom does it for adventure, because he strives to impress his brother, because he falls in love with the story at hand, and because he is, as Stephen knows, an expert salesman. Stephen does it for the riches, and because he's an expert narrative craftsman. He sees the ins and outs well in advance, knows all the moves from a young age. They take to traveling the world, hoodwinking others for thousands and millions, Bloom growing more distressed with each successful con. They target loner heiress Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz) with their last mission, only she surprises them by being more daring and adventure-starved than they had predicted. Bloom struggles to not fall for her, trying to maintain her sweet innocence and not lose the last of his crumbling spirit. Stephen struggles to concoct the perfect scheme, the one where everyone wins.
Even within The Brothers Bloom, there's a tonal contrast between what comes off as lighthearted and amusing (exploding bombs, signing away $1.75 million checks) and what is downright grave (love, family, attaining one's dreams). The flow of the direction matches the characters themselves. The brothers are expert storytellers, highlighting the most charming anecdotes and skimming over the drudgery. Johnson is the same way. Certain sequences and exchanges made me laugh out loud, others brought a wide smile to my face. The whole thing was very theatrical, perfect for a couple of showmen, and Johnson utilized all the tricks at his disposal to keep the story bouncing along--clever cutaways, rapid fire editing, elaborate sets, and really terrific costuming. At least I thought it was terrific. Someone more well-versed in costuming would probably point out numerous flaws (as is the case with risky, noticeable wardrobe). In the end, though, there was definitely a lot of heart behind the story. It was a classic buddy/brothers story, no matter how much they do to pester each other throughout the arc of the film, in the end they're brothers and they love each other and they just want what's best for everyone.
The movie was quite enjoyable. It wasn't outstanding, I don't think it left as big an impression on me as Brick did, but I would still call it a success for Johnson in his sophomore feature. Young filmmakers typically run risks two ways: either they follow up their debut with another film in the same style/genre and risk being labeled as boring or unimaginative (similar to what happened with The Strokes), or they make a film that's quite different from their original and people criticize them for getting away from what made them successful in the first place (we can call this the Bloc Party corrollary). Johnson seemingly took the riskier approach and went with a shift in tone, but I kind of think (and hope) that what he was able to achieve was a lesson that a filmmaker's style does not particularly have to remain constant across each feature, but that HAVING style is something of a gift, and being able to adapt his creativity to fit the story at hand is a noteworthy talent.
Also props on the Joseph Gordon-Levitt cameo in the post-title afterparty scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment