Sarz's
The Brothers Grimm
I give it 2.5 Outbreaks out of 5
The Details: Dimension Films
presents a film directed by Terry
Gilliam and written by Ehren
Kruger. The film has a running
time of 118 minutes and is rated
PG-13 for violence, frightening
sequences and brief suggestive
material.
The Low Down: Wilhelm and
Jacob Grimm are traveling con
artists playing off of people's fears
for a quick buck. During their
travels, they manage to get forced
into a real-life fairytale involving
the disappearance of maidens
from a small town surrounded by
enchanted woods. Red Riding
Hood, The Gingerbread Man,
and many other classic stories'
origins are fictitiously explained
throughout.
The Dirty: Wow... For once Sarz
is speechless. And I don't really
think that this is a good thing.
Have you ever walked out of a
movie theater and was unsure if
you enjoyed the film you had just
seen? Well that is what happened
with The Brothers Grimm.
When Terry Gilliam directs
a film, you usually expect
great things. His past credits
include The Adventures of
Baron Miinchhausen, Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve
Monkeys. So why was this movie
so average?
It is hard to point a finger at
what went wrong with this film.
I believe the main problems all
deal with casting and setting.
The whole casting issue almost
makes me believe Terry Gilliam
threw darts at a board of hip
Hollywood actors to pick his cast.
Mr. Gilliam made some really
good choices, mixed with some
really bad ones. Heath Ledger
did a wonderful job playing Jacob
Grimm, the brother seeking
redemption for a naive mistake in
his youth. Matt Damon, Wilhelm
Grimm, on the other hand cannot
act his way out of a wet paper
bagged cliché'. You are never
supposed to dislike your main
characters. Heck, Scarface was
a bad guy and people still were
able to get behind him. So you
know you have a real problem
when the main character is so
easily hated. Mr. Gilliam, what
were you thinking by giving him
the lead? Did Hollywood force
you to make such a bad mistake
for marketing reasons? Either
way, Matt Damon was not the
correct choice.
The second problem with the film
is almost as glaring as the first.
When it comes to Terry Gilliam
directing, you expect a fantastical
journey of the senses. This,
although based on fairytales and
set in an enchanted forest, was
just not quite fantastic enough.
When you pay eight dollars to see
a fantasy film, it better immerse
Entertainment
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you in a fantasy. It indeed falls
short by never quite letting you
release from reality.
In the film's defense, it does
have some things going for it,
mainly the idea of being able to
sit through it and pick out what
fairytale they are referencing. It is
almost as though every storybook
character from your childhood
makes a cameo throughout the
film. This is entertaining and
would make a great drinking
game.
Another strong point of the film
is that even though it is a fairly
straightforward plot and it ends
exactly where you expect it to
end, it does take some unseen
twists and make you feel as
though you don't know what is
coming next. It's like taking the
scenic route around a film instead
of going straight to the already
predictable end.
Overall I still do not know if I liked
it and would recommend renting
it when it comes video or cable.
Sarz's
The 40 Year Old Virgin
I give it 4.5 Outbreaks out of 5
The Details: Universal Pictures
presents a film directed by Judd
Apatow and written by Judd
Apatow and Steve Carell. The film
has a running time of 116 minutes
and is rated R for pervasive
sexual content, language and
some drug use.
The Low Down: Andy is a 40
year old geek who collects toys,
plays video games, works in an
electronics store, and has never
had sex. When his coworkers find
out, they make it their personal
mission to find Andy a girl. When
Andy falls in love, his fear of sex
causes more problems than it's
worth.
The Dirty: Ok, where do I
start? Funniest friggin movie I've
seen in a long time! I laughed,
I laughed, and I laughed some
more... And when I thought I was
done laughing, it started all over
again.
Steve Carell does an outstanding
job playing the awkward outcast.
Most people know at least one
person who is socially devoid,
so it is easy to see how well he
truthfully portrays the part. His
ineptitude at interacting with
the opposite sex, or people in
general, makes him shine as an
underdog. It makes you want to
hop into the film and give him a
hand. If Steve Carell nailed one
part in his entire career, this is it.
The plot is actually fairly
The Capital Times, September 26, 2005
Virus
Heath Ledger and Matt Damon as Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in Di
mension Film's The Brothers Grimm.
Media Virus
believable. I wouldn't be surprised
if this film were taken from actual
events. I had a friend who made
it to about 27 years old before
he lost his virginity and I saw a
lot of my friend in the character
of Andy. The characters easily
relate to friends that most of us
have in real life, and this is a
main strength. If it weren't for the
supporting cast representing such
a broad range of personalities,
the film would have died early on.
I found it extremely easy to relate
to almost every character in the
film. When this happens, it makes
the whole experience much more
enjoyable and comfortable.
The only weak point the film
has is that it is in fact a comedy.
And as we all know, comedies
just aren't as funny the second
time around. The film has a lot
of gag humor, which may only
really work the first time you see
Photo courtousy of the4oyearoldyingin com
Steve Carell stars as the 40 year old named Andy whos coworkers
make it their personal mission to find him a girl.
Photo by Francois Duhamel/grimmfilm.com
the film. There are also a lot of
jokes that catch you off guard
and have you laughing your heart
out because you did not see it
coming. Something tells me this
film may fall short of having the
replay value of something like
Billy Madison, but in no way
should this stop you from seeing
it in the theater and then picking
it up on DVD.
www.the4oyearoldvirigin.com
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