The best of con films are ones that are able to fool you up until the last second. You may think you know where it’s going, but in truth, it’s going to go the opposite way, or a whole different way entirely. “The Brothers Bloom” is one of these films. It will keep you guessing right up to the very end, and chances are, if you think you know the ending, you don’t.
The film starts off by introducing its main characters, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). We meet them first as kids as they shuffle from foster home to foster home, always getting into some kind of trouble. We witness their very first con involving getting several kids to pay them for the location of a cave. Several years later, they are professional conmen. Bloom, the younger brother, has had enough and wants out of the game. Stephen desperately tries to convince him to pull off one last con with him.
Stephen has chosen a rich woman, Penelope (Rachel Weisz),who lives all alone in a large mansion, as the mark. With the help of their friend, The Curator (Robbie Coltrane), they plan to make her think they’re smugglers trying to sell a fake manuscript on the black market. Various twists and turns ensue making us ultimately ask the question: Who is really conning who?
To put it simply, “The Brothers Bloom” is just plain fun. It does everything you’d hope a con film could do. By the end, you might find yourself so paranoid, that you begin questioning everyone’s motives….and well you should. It takes you through so many twists and turns that you begin to wonder if there isn’t something larger going on.
There are so many various ways each section of the film could play out. There is never a clear cut answer as to how it will proceed. It could be a con to ensnare Penelope. It could be a con from The Curator. Or, it could be another ploy from Stephen.
We learn early in the film that Stephen’s cons always involved allowing Bloom to get exactly what he wanted. In the case of their first con, it was to give Bloom an excuse to talk to a girl that he has a crush on. Years later, there is an obvious romantic attraction between Bloom and Rachel, leading us to believe that one of the possibilities is to get Bloom the girl of his dreams, but again, the twists and turns make us question our answers.
The film, written by Rian Johnson, who previously brought us the disappointing “Brick,” returns with a very fresh project. It’s very cleverly written to be able to include the possibility of so many outcomes, and inserts certain dialogue in just the right places to make it all come together in the end, allowing the film to not be too obvious in its attempts to lead, or mislead, you in certain directions.
The performances fit the bill perfectly. Mark Ruffalo plays a great shady character whose motives we are never sure of. Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody displays a great range, from sweet and innocent to times when he seems almost as conniving as his brother. Rachel Weisz gives a very subtle performance, but that’s the charm to her character. It’s her subtlety that allows us to question her motives as well, meaning is she acting excited for these adventures because she is truly excited, or is it too a con?
The final twist of the film is what puts it over the top. I had been enjoying the ride thoroughly the entire way, but was astounded by the end. I thought I knew exactly where it was going, but then, with one little twist acting like a slap in the face, I had been fooled completely. What more can you ask from a con film?
It’s similar to David Mamet’s great con film “House of Games” in the way it tries to fool the audience, but while that film was kind of obvious in some of its cons, “The Brothers Bloom” is very subtle in its deception. It pulls the perfect con, which Stephen defines as a con where everyone gets what they want. The audience gets exactly what they want: A wild ride with an ending they won’t see coming.
4/4 stars.