Hijinks Movie Reviews: The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom was recommended to be by Bob Sacamano, he said it was an alright movie, kinda fun, good story. While that’s essentially the same take I came away from the movie with… it’s not much of a movie review with just one sentence now is it?

Getting it’s wide release in theaters on May 29, 2009, and found it’s way to the rental shelves on September 29, 2009 on Blu-Ray and DVD, The Brothers Bloom is your classic con job caper. The brothers (Adrian Brody and Mark Ruffalo) are the worlds greatest con men who’s life motto is this: “The perfect con is one where everyone involved gets just the thing they wanted.” They decide to embark on one last big con before hanging it up for good, the problem is, they choose an isolated eccentric socialite (Rachel Weisz), who proves to be a bit bigger undertaking than they’d originally planned for. We’ll get into it a bit more after the break, plot point courtesy of Wikipedia.

At the beginning of the movie, we learn that the brothers have been pulling cons ever since they were little kids. The older brother Stephen dreams up elaborate scenarios and his younger brother, Bloom, creates trust with the marks. 25 years later the brothers are celebrating the end of another con. At the party Bloom realizes that Stephen controls everything in their lives. Bloom decides to quit and move to Montenegro. Three months later Stephen finds Bloom and convinces him to execute one final con masquerading as antique dealers with Bang Bang, a Japanese explosives expert. The con is on Penelope Stamp, a rich socially-isolated New Jersey heiress. To meet, Bloom stages a car accident but during the accident she seizures and is taken to the hospital. Penelope is discharged and reveals to Bloom that she was alone for most of her life. Bloom hints that he is leaving the country tomorrow… and the con is on!

The nature of this particular con takes them all over the world. Throughout the course of this job, Bloom finds himself falling in love with Penelope. Because of the nature of this movie, I really don’t want to get into too many more details. This is one of those movies that is just a genuinely fun story. The actors do a tremendous job in their roles, making the movie feel more like a good engrossing book that just a quick flick. The twists and turns are so difficult to decode because the con is so elaborate and well executed. You often ask yourself, “Is this true, or is this part of their created reality?”, which in my mind is a perfect equation for a good movie. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Dave’s Quick Hits: This was one of those genuinely interesting and fun stories, with good actors putting on a good show, it was a fun movie to watch almost like reading a book, 7 out of 10
Thoughts From The Better Half: I don’t like Mark Ruffalo with a beard… I might have to move him down my list for that, it was a really good story, not super funny or anything but it kept my attention really well, 6 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65% – Despite strong performances The Brothers Bloom ultimately does not fulfill its lofty ambitions.