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The Brothers Grimm
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The Brothers Grimm (2005)

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User Rating: 5.9/10 (30,442 votes)
Photos (see all 73 | slideshow)

Overview

Director:
Terry Gilliam
Writer (WGA):
Ehren Kruger (written by)
Release Date:
26 August 2005 (USA) more
Tagline:
Eliminating Evil Since 1812 more
Plot:
Will and Jake Grimm are travelling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(21 articles)
Heath Ledger Dead at 28 (From WENN. 23 January 2008)
'Terminator' Series Scraps School Scenes (From WENN. 24 July 2007)
User Comments:
Gilliam does Hollywood ... more

Cast

 (Cast overview, first billed only)
Petr Ratimec ... Young Will
Barbora Lukesová ... Mother Grimm (as Barbara Lukesova)
Anna Rust ... Sister Grimm
Jeremy Robson ... Young Jacob

Matt Damon ... Wilhelm Grimm

Heath Ledger ... Jacob Grimm
Radim Kalvoda ... Gendarme
Martin Hofmann ... Gendarme
Josef Pepa Nos ... German War Veteran
Harry Gilliam ... Stable Boy
Miroslav Táborský ... Old Miller

Roger Ashton-Griffiths ... Mayor
Marika Sarah Procházková ... Miller's Daughter (as Marika Prochazkova)

Mackenzie Crook ... Hidlick
Richard Ridings ... Bunst
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material.
Runtime:
118 min
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
MOVIEmeter: ?
^ 8% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Goran Bregovic was Terry Gilliam's original choice for composer. When Gilliam decided to go with a more traditional score, Bregovic was replaced by Dario Marianelli. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: "Jack and the Beanstalk" was not written down by the Brothers Grimm, it is an old English tale which isn't very well-known in Germany. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Sister Grimm: Mama, it's so cold.
Mother Grimm: It's very, very cold. Will. Put another log on the fire, lad.
Young Will: There isn't any more firewood, mama.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Getting Gilliam (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Waltz #15 in A flat major ('Lullaby'), Op.39 more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
114 out of 156 people found the following comment useful:-
Gilliam does Hollywood ..., 5 September 2005
6/10
Author: Noel (Werewolf-Moviesdotcom) from Bromsgrove, England

Being a fan of both good old-fashioned fantasy movies and of director Terry Gilliam, I was really looking forward to this one. I was slightly put off when I heard Gilliam's complaints about the constant interference of the Brothers Weinstein, but the director does have a history of being dissatisfied with the production of projects which actually turn out pretty good in the end, so my hopes were still pretty high.

Rather than being a historical biography of the famous authors, this is a fantastic make-believe story of the possible inspirations behind the stories of the Brothers Grimm. The brothers travel around Europe working as con artists, fooling simple peasants into believing they are witch-hunters and monster slayers. However, when they are captured by a French general and sent to investigate a town which is believed to have been targeted by similar con-men, they discover that there may be some truth behind the fairy tales. The very woods surrounding the town seem to be alive, a big, bad wolf stalks through the darkness and an evil power seems to emanate from a mysterious ancient tower ...

So, Gilliam tries his hand at doing a commercial summer blockbuster. And the results are, well, interesting. Primarily he shows that he can produce some great action sequences, and there are some really great visual ideas here, many of which I'll admit are entirely thanks to top-notch CGI work. These are the moments when the director's creative magic appears to shine through, and there's enough of them to make this movie worth watching. Overall it does feel strangely derivative for a Gilliam movie, but I suppose that's to be expected when he sacrifices creative control to the studio. In the past I've heard that Gilliam simply sees himself as a "hired hand" on such projects.

However, where it fails is in the mixture of action and drama, in repeatedly placing it's characters in peril whilst also making us care about them. Unfortunately this has been a problem in a lot of these big-budget fantasy/action movies lately, including last years equivalent -- "Van Helsing". The other movie with which this shares a lot in common is Tim Burton's Gothic horror "Sleepy Hollow", which was far superior to either. The main problem with the "Brothers Grimm" is that there's little to no character development in the first hour of the movie, and then almost all of the conflict between the characters is suddenly introduced in one scene. This is what we call bad pacing. And the way the characters are written seems somewhat inconsistent (although both Damon and Ledger manage to turn in decent performances all the same), and we never really get a "feel" for their personalities.

For your average light-hearted Hollywood fantasy, this is perfectly fine. But from a director with a history of making fascinating, important works of surreal art, this is somewhat short of what you'd expect.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Director's Cut? jackgiroux
Did it occur to anyone else that... Heligena
Was anyone else reminded of Pirates of the Carribean watching this?? whymzical
Who did Angelika really LOVE? Will or Jason trooperz_fairy
Jacob Similiar to Jack Sparrow? ninjachicken22
Bloody scary for a 12!!! saidiemai
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