THE BROTHERS BLOOM
THE BROTHERS BLOOM is a romantic comedy about Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) two brothers who mature from boyhood to manhood with only each other to trust as they grow up being shunted from one foster home to another. When their chronic delinquent behaviour leaves them without even that option they discover the confidence game as a handy means of survival. Life as con men serves them well until they hit thirty something. By then they’ve gained Bang Bang a cute, diminutive, enigmatic and asexual Asian partner with a talent for incendiary devices, and lost Blooms ardour for the life of a grifter. Stephen talks him into one last mark – Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz) – a New Jersey heiress who led a totally sheltered life before being orphaned just as she reached the age of consent. The ruse proceeds brilliantly until Bloom falls for Penelope but when he reveals all she wants to play along as she finds thrilling this con game that often involved The Curator (Robbie Coltrane) and the untrustworthy Diamond Dog (Maximilian Schell). Logically drivers ed is missing among the many “hobbies” she picked up while in adolescent seclusion but others like slight of hand and musicianship serve her well for fitting in. Weisz brings an endearing innocence to her role and unknown Japanese standout Rinko Kikuchi as Bang Bang is a treat. There are stunning locations and very amusing visual gags that unfortunately fizzle out too soon. As for the two brothers, their likeability never really reaches full bloom.