‘Bloom’ a romance story disguised as a con caper
‘The Brothers Bloom’ starring Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and
Mark Ruffalo
From the first moments of
”
The Brothers Bloom,
”
the movie has an otherworldly character to it that feels a lot
like the recently ended ABC series
”
Pushing Daisies.
”
In
”
Pushing Daisies,
”
the characters are over the top, the scenes are brightly
colored, and people dress as though they are stuck in an era not
quite of the 21st century, though the movie takes place in the
present day.
‘Bloom’ a romance story disguised as a con caper
‘The Brothers Bloom’ starring Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and Mark Ruffalo
From the first moments of “The Brothers Bloom,” the movie has an otherworldly character to it that feels a lot like the recently ended ABC series “Pushing Daisies.” In “Pushing Daisies,” the characters are over the top, the scenes are brightly colored, and people dress as though they are stuck in an era not quite of the 21st century, though the movie takes place in the present day.
The movie even begins a bit like the television series. The first episode started with Ned (Lee Pace) as a young boy who discovers he has the uncanny ability to bring things back to life by touching them – but only by taking the life of something else. Like Ned, we find that Bloom (Adrien Brody) has his own childhood heartaches that he still carries with him decades later. The movie even has an unknown narrator who offers some insight into the thoughts of the boys.
Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom are brothers who were shifted from foster home to foster home. Each time they joined a new family in some suburban cul-de-sac, they always remained outsiders. And having each other was enough – until Stephen catches a glimpse of Bloom’s desire to fit in with the other kids. To help Bloom met a blond, curly-haired neighborhood girl, Stephen comes up with a plan – the first step of which is Bloom talks to the girl.
Soon the boys have set in motion a scheme that will land them some extra money by tricking the other kids into believing there are magical creatures living in a cave in the woods – but in the end, they are found out and shipped off to another home.
From that experience, however, the boys find their lot in life. They are masterful con artists, with Stephen selecting each mark and writing out step after step that in the end leads to the perfect con – one in which everyone gets what they wanted. But after 20 years of playing roles created for him by his brother, Bloom realizes he has never gotten what he wants at the end of a con. Bloom broods through the movie as the unhappy main character in his brother’s stories.
Bloom decides to leave his brother and their ever-present sidekick, Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), a Japanese girl who doesn’t speak any English, but is a master at blowing things up. He escapes for three months to Montenegro, where he drinks a lot of wine and wallows by himself, but soon enough Stephen has tracked him down and asks him to do one final con with him before they both call it quits.
Bloom agrees to at least take a look at the mark. The con breaks one of the cardinal rules – they don’t use women – but Bloom has trouble saying no to his brother. He soon finds himself wooing the eccentric heiress Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz), a woman who has no friends or family to speak of. She spends all her time in a huge mansion where she collects hobbies – playing the piano, juggling, unicycling, and on and on.
Stephen has worked out a masterful plan that starts with Penelope and Bloom’s meeting – an event in which her high-speed Ferrari runs into Bloom while he rides a Schwinn with a banana seat. The con is set to end in Mexico, via a cruise to Greece and train trip to Prague. While Stephen is a master of figuring out what people want to make his cons successful, Penelope may not be so predictable as everyone else he has tricked. As Bloom says at one point in the movie, it’s like Penelope is a character in one of Stephen’s schemes.
The con is complicated when Bloom seems to be falling for Penelope, and she for him. It finally seems clear that what Bloom wants is to be in love and finally get the girl for the long-term – but the con isn’t written to end that way.
The brothers future is also jeopardized by a run in with their nemesis, Diamond Dog (Maximilian Schell), a man who mentored them as young con artists but who lost an eye in a fight with Stephen. As with most con movies, it’s not clear who is conning whom – and who is in on the game – until the very end.
Movies Under the Stars
July 2: Nacho Libre, PG
Nacho (Jack Black) grew up in an orphanage and now works as a cook there. But all his life he has dreamed of being a masked wrestler in the lucha libre tradition. He enters a tournament to win the respect of others and to help the children at the orphanage. Starring Ana de la Reguera as Sister Enarnacion and Darius Rose as Chancho.
July 9: Ghost Busters, PG
They ain’t afraid of no ghosts in this 1984 comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis as the three out-of-work parapsychologists decide to set up a ghost removal company. Starring Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett and Rick Moranis as Louis Tully.
July 16: Journey to the Center of the Earth, PG
Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) is obsessed with the idea that there is a lost world at the center of the earth. When he and his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) travel to Iceland to research some mysterious quakes they find themselves lost in just such a world with their guide Hannah (Anita Briem). But now that Trevor has made his discovery, how will they find their way out?
Movies are Thursdays half an hour after dusk at the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets.
Volunteers are needed to help with upcoming Thursday night ‘Movies Under the Stars.’ For more information, or to volunteer, call Jeana Arnold at 636-8406.
