The Brothers Grimm - PG-13

Don't expect a fairy tale -- this story is for teens and adults.

Rating: PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material Studio: Dimension Directed By: Terry Gilliam Cast: Heath Ledger, Matt Damon Running Time: 118 minutes Release Date: 08/26/2005 Genre: Fantasy

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that the film includes some scenes in the dark woods that might be frightening for younger viewers. The brothers argue and sometimes fight physically. Characters drink and behave boisterously (it's 19th-century rural Germany). Language includes German and French versions of "s--t" as well as some slang for "breasts." The brothers' investigation centers on kidnapped girls, producing spooky, sometimes violent images (in particular, a girl is whisked into a well by a black blob and a horse eats a child, in silhouette). Creatures in the forest include tree roots that grab at passers-by and a gigantic wolf. A powerful witch looks alternately ancient and beautiful, casting spells and wreaking havoc.

Families can discuss the brothers' complicated and changing relationship. How do they represent two positions on magic and faith? How does their relationship form a ground for the plot, as they deal with surprising tests of their beliefs systems? How does Angelika serve simultaneously as romantic object and intrepid adventurer?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs

Sometimes clever, mostly discombobulated, THE BROTHERS GRIMM re-conceives the lives of the storytellers in order to ponder the very nature of storytelling. Wilhelm (Matt Damon) and Jacob Grimm (Heath Ledger) see the world differently: Will is skeptical, Jake more romantic. But they're partners as con artists, purporting to banish ghosts and witches for money, rigging "scenes" with theatrical tricks (ropes, mirrors, pulleys, costumes) so their peasant clients believe their money is well spent.

The brothers begin to question their career and other choices when they come on what appears a real curse, the disappearance of 10 girls into the Marbaden forest in French-occupied Germany. A sister of a couple of victims, Angelika (Lena Headey), guides them to the seeming center of the magic. Their company, assigned by French military bureaucrat, General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce), includes the completely unhinged Italian executioner Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), alternately simpering and aggressive, never quite predictably.

Their initial journey through is suitably spooky: trees' roots grab at them ("Don't trust the trees," warns Angelika), a giant wolf shadows them, and a cursed horse literally gulps down a child. The fact that the very land is rising up against invaders is of a piece with the film's thematic interest in occupation, of bodies as well as locations. They eventually do battle with the powerful Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci), by putting their props to practical use.

The film is most effective as an antic meditation on storytelling, a favorite theme of director Terry Gilliam. Ehren Kruger's script teases together any number of references to the Grimm's tales, some obvious fits, more often weird. As he prepares Jake to confront the Queen, with the homemade armor that's not really magic ("It's just shiny," he confesses), Will worries, "Nothing makes sense here, it's like being inside Jake's head." But the broader sense lies in The Brothers Grimm's connections between politics and storytelling, showmanship and survival.

Families who like this movie will like Gilliam's other films, including Time Bandits, The Fisher King, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, or Ledger's breakout film, A Knight's Take. They might remember fondly the "Fractured Fairy Tales" segments of tv's old Bullwinkle Show, and might find comparable fairy tales-inspired wit in Shrek and Shrek 2.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Sexual references, some bawdy drunkenness, a couple of kisses.
Violence Witches cast spells, magical creatures assault humans, some sword and hand to hand fighting.
Language Mild, one use of s-word.
Message
	Social Behavior Brothers are charlatans, until they meet up with a real curse; some arguing, some abuses of authority.
	Commercialism Thematic only: the brothers "market" themselves as curse-banishers.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Drinking.