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08.25.05
Breathtakingly mediocre.
When we were walking out of the "Brothers Grimm" screening, we got to share the elevator down with what may have been our favorite person Rex Reed (he was looking far more orange than he did the last time we saw him, and we were beset with doubts), who was inquiring of no one in particular: "Who is that film for, exactly? Can someone tell me what kind of audience that film is for?"
Or something to that effect.
It saddened us, because Gilliam's films have always been glorious inappropriate for any conception of an audience — remember the King and Queen of the Moon in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," who, as floating heads, were only concerned with higher things, but who, when reattached to their bodies, could only think about food and sex? "No, let me go! I've got tides to regulate! Comets to direct! I don't have time for flatulence and orgasms!" said the King. Who the hell was that scene for?! Not that it wasn't excellent, inspired and strange. "Grimm" is the first Gilliam film we've seen (though we haven't watched "The Fisher King") that's squarely aimed at the mainstream, and it's pretty damn lifeless.
Anyway, our review is here.
+ Lost in the well-designed woods: "The Brothers Grimm" (IFC News)
Comments
I thought Gilliam might have escaped the curse of the year 2000 - 2001, the years that gave us MISSION TO MARS (De Palma), PLANET OF THE APES (Tim Burton), SUPERNOVA (Walter Hill & Francis Ford Coppola), and countless other horrible movies by less brilliant directors, but I'm starting to dread that GRIMM is going to feel exactly like those. Too bad, because I kind of liked the trailer, and I'm still going to have to spend $10 lousy bucks on it no matter how bad it is.
Posted by: nilblogette | Aug 25, 2005 6:55:50 PM
Despite it all, I still have high hopes for "Tideland," having just finished the novel it's based on (v. promising). From all the recent interviews, Gilliam seems much fonder of that film than of "Grimm," no matter how much he attempts to smile for the camera.
Posted by: alison | Aug 26, 2005 11:46:29 AM
MISSION TO MARS and PLANET OF THE APES both have things to admire about them, despite ultimately being (interesting) failures. Whereas a bad Gilliam film doesn't surprise me. Honestly I find BRAZIL to be one big bore and hardly hesitate to call his non-Python oeuvre quite the same.
Posted by: NilBlog | Aug 28, 2005 11:23:17 AM
