Her Movie Reviews

Bear with me here. It’s been a few weeks since watching “the Brother’s Bloom” so my mind is a little fuzzy.

The female characters in this film really stole the show! Rachel Weisz is always incredible in everything she does, so that is really no surprise. The woman who plays Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi) was absolutely the highlight of the movie. I’m not even sure she had a single line, but her facial expressions, body language, and costumes made her completely entertaining! And the guys weren’t bad either. Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody were really good, and I even had a small crush on Bloom (Brody) throughout the film.

The plot was alright. I don’t want to ruin this for anyone, but if you’re looking for a huge Hitchcock-styled plot twist (like I was) you might be disappointed. It is a story of very imaginative con men. Stephen (Ruffalo) is the brains of the operations. He concocts these elaborate plans to swindle people out of money. Bloom is the younger brother with the heart of gold who is growing tired of the whole charade. Eventually the story becomes about trust, or a lack of trust, between the brothers as Bloom falls in love with Penelope (Weisz), a wealthy young woman who is the intended victim of the brothers most recent scam. Bang Bang is a mysterious character, who just showed up one day and helps the brothers, but they are always aware that one day she will disappear just as quickly as she appeared the first time. The plot keeps you guessing whether or not what you’re seeing is actually part of the con.

I don’t remember enjoying it immediately after watching it, but the more I think about it now, it was actually very good.

Rating:  

For all intents and purpose, I really enjoyed this movie. It took a while to get into the plot and understand what they were talking about, but after about 10 minutes of introducing the characters and setting, it is a fun film. It is about an American girl who marries a young Englishman from a seemingly wealthy family. You can guess the general plot line from there: girl versus overbearing mother-in-law. They both hold their own quite well, and watching the battle is fun for both the on screen characters as well as the off screen viewers.

The actors are all very well cast. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian: Chronicles of Narnia) plays the young husband, John. Jessica Biel plays the young bride, Larita. Colin Firth, always brilliant, is the reserved and very distant father in contrast to Kristin Scott Thomas’ overbearing and tightly wound mother in law, Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker. There is an assortment of other characters in the film, such as the nagging spinster sisters and the nosey neighbors, but the true highlight has got to be the family butler, Furber. Kris Marshall is the actor, who might be best known as “Colin, god of sex” in Love, Actually. He is full of wry one liners and subtly hysterical facial expressions.

Like I said earlier, the battle between the mother and daughter-in-law is the driving force of the film. They continually trump each other in the effort to convince John (Barnes) what to do with the couples future. Larita (Biel) wishes to move to the city, while the mother wants him to stay at the family home and take over its care. One of the most clever scenes is during the annual fox hunt. Mrs. Whitaker (Scott-Thomas) insists that Larita ride, and she agrees, but what she doesn’t tell her is that she chooses to ride a horse of a different kind: a motorcycle. The scenes are charming and full of quick humor.

My only complaint about this film is the relationship between Larita and her father-in-law (Firth). It seems innocent and kind, but at the end they share a dance that leads the viewer to believe it is something more. The end, which I do not want to give away, certainly makes us feel as though we’ve been missing something the entire time. But all in all, I thought it was a fun film, which doesn’t require too much thought, just perhaps turn on the subtitles.