The New York Observer observed that director Terry Gilliam’s latest was “too boring for children, too silly for adults, and too Grimm for words”. Harsh, considering the Christian Science Monitor felt director Gilliam “has rarely been more inventive, energetic, or just plain funny”. And therein lies the dichotomy that is The Brothers Grimm; an effervescent film that is all these things and more. Or less, depending on your point of view.

This chaotic project from the auteur who courts anguish like Paris courts cameras comes on the heals of his beloved, failed signature piece, Don Quixote. He charts similar territory but doubles the stakes with two shysters who rid European peasants of their demons. Jacob (Heath Ledger) is also an aspiring writer who finds inspiration in adventures set up by his brother Wilhelm (Matt Damon). Already the story is in trouble as Gilliam invokes buffoonery at the expense of comedy. Never one to reign himself in, his pantomime sensibility pulls hard at patience and gives pause to consider the film’s many irritations, like Ledger’s grunting or the inconsistency of an American and Australian playing Germans with English accents.

Before long, a Napoleonic twist lands the brothers deep in the forest rescuing a sleeping beauty from magical spells. Problem is, she isn’t and this time the spooks are real. Problem is, we don’t care all that much, yet we do for hiding around the film’s edges is a wonderful idea continually harassed by abject silliness. And while the story doesn’t take itself all that seriously, it’s not that much fun either. As Entertainment Weekly wrote, The Brothers Grimm is like “a piñata that Gilliam keeps smashing, with diminishing returns”.

// COLIN FRASER