The Brothers Bloom (2009)

It's not often that I'm beguiled by a trailer. I usually see through the marketing ploys and am keenly aware when one month the trailer is presented as a drama and the next it's been recut as a comedy. But then along came Brothers Bloom with its Wes Anderson-esque whimsy in camera shots and characters and smaller, yet acclaimed Ocean's 11-ful cast and plot.

Point to you for that one, The Brothers Bloom. Too bad you won't be scoring much more than that. First let's start with the title. The brothers in it are lifelong con artists Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). They do not appear to have a last name. So why is the film titled after one of the two brothers? If anything it should be called "Brothers, Bloom."

Then there's the mess of a plot. We're constantly out of the loop because more than one character is out of the loop but they are all out to varying degrees. And even when you think you've been let in, you're usually still left out. Us audiences tend to like to be in on things from the beginning, or left totally out and surprised at the end, or slowly have things revealed to us over time. None of this see-sawing crap, please. Some sort of flow or balance is missing. Ironically, towards the end a character essentially promises the story will be better next time.

At least some of the characters are fun. Rachel Weisz's Penelope Stamp is a reclusive heiress who collects hobbies. Weisz seems to be having a blast in this comedic role. She actually tried to learn every hobby her character has. I kept thinking if only Wes Anderson could scoop up Penelope and the brothers' mute associate Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi) and give them a better story in which to play... if only.

An alluring trailer and two fun female characters just aren't enough though.

Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: Penelope's hobby montage.