The Brothers Bloom

Maybe it's because I was desperate to like a movie (I'd had such high hopes for Goodbye Solo but was disappointed), but I was fairly impressed with The Brothers Bloom. It has a lot of the elements that I like in a movie: quirky humour, existential themes, and intriguing plot. The final segment made it fall somewhat short of its potential, but it remained a fun, worthwhile watch.

The effectiveness of the quirky humour is mainly thanks to the wonderful acting and style of Rachel Weisz. Granted her role required little consistency, but she sold the inconsistency well. The movie took a good shot at the theme of the planned and played out vs. the unwritten life. The profundity of the result may be in question, but it was a good shot. The twists and turns are typical of a con game movie. If they had done a better job at making the ending segment coherent I'd definitely give the movie top marks. The main problem, I think, is the leave the character of the older brother too undeveloped. Certainly the movie is quite intentional about leaving much unexplained, but if they want us to accept the overall direction, they needed to give us a little more.

All in all, I'll give it ***1/2.