Movie Review: The Brothers Bloom

No spoilers, just a few impressions that survived a night’s sleep.

+ I liked it. It’s a light, playful, but sophisticated crime caper.  It feels like it was written and directed by a hipster with a fine arts degree re-wrote Ocean’s Eleven after watching too many Wes Anderson and Coen Brothers flicks. Hmmm.

+ Best line of dialogue in a long time: “That’s my new favorite camel.” There are others.

+ Bang Bang was my favorite character and I hope she wasn’t paid by the word.

+ In keeping with the slight of hand theme present throughout the film, there are lots of little things to notice in the peripheries – some clever, some cute, many meaningless – but all interesting enough to keep you engaged. Why do they have digital cameras, but not cell phones? Why are they all dressed like they’re in a White Stripes video? What the hell kind of booze bottles are those?

+ I normally don’t care for Adrien Brody, but he’s very good with Mark Ruffalo. Rachel Weisz is great and clearly had fun trying to play an American.

+ Literature majors will have a time with this one. Tons of references to dead Russian authors and fruity British lit peppered among aloof exchanges.

+ It looks like writer/director Rian Johnson was having some fun paying tribute to what I can only think are some sources of inspiration. Playing card affectations among the characters reminds you of The Sting. Cat Stevens playing over a halcyon romp through a field recalls Hal Ashby. And there was a pretty good attempt at a pose from the album art for “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (with Bob Dylan’s, “Tonight I’ll be staying here with you” playing over top. sheesh.)

+ I thought for sure it was narrated by Paul Giammati, but turns out it was Ricky Jay, a man you don’t often see outside a David Mamet cast listing. The plot of Rian Johnson’s inspiration plot thickens.

Pretty good movie, but in the end, it made me want to go home and watch Rushmore and The Big Lebowski.