The Brothers Bloom – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Rian Johnson exploded onto the scene with an under-appreciated Brick, a fun, hard-boiled spin on the film noir genre.  It took a few years, but a bigger budget and bigger stars, made The Brothers Bloom a must see for many, who did find Brick to be a solid fresh spin on an old genre. If Rian Johnson keeps going this route, I’ll be eager each and every time, to see what type of spin he puts on an old genre. With The Brothers Bloom, he tackles the con man genre, but with his patten old school dialogue and visual cues.

As far as con man stories go, I think I heard them all. That opening line really sets us up for the film. Johnson is quite self-aware, a student of cinema, and he knows he is dabbling in a genre that’s pretty worn out. But that doesn’t stop him, and that’s credited to his talents. I’d say he’s like a Wes Anderson, but knows how to have more fun. Now, the film isn’t a shallow bit of entertainment. It’s a multilayer-ed, with each character having plenty of motivation and arc. After making a name for themselves as the world’s best con men, Bloom (Adrien Brody) wants to retire. But when his brother (Mark Ruffalo) offers him one last con, he reluctantly accepts. What neither expected was that Bloom is falling in love with their latest mark (Rachel Weisz).

I think the dramatic tension in the middle act, falters the film as Johnson isn’t nearly in love with these characters as he was in Brick, or at least that is how I felt. The reason being is that Weisz’s character of Penelope is just an empty glass. She infuses the character with a ton of charm and cuteness, but the character is just a little flat, and her finding herself feels overwritten. The film as a whole is predictable, a fault not really Johnson’s, as he did forewarn in the opening narration. Despite this, though, The Brothers Bloom is a fun romp, with plenty of great secondary characters like Babel‘s Rinko Kikuchi, who says little, but is always saying something through actions. Johnson is a clever writer and a solid director, and if anything, The Brothers Bloom is further proof we have someone to really enjoy going to the movies for. Look for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Brick character in an early bar scene. Could Johnson’s character be inhabiting the same world? Oh, what fun!

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Summit Entertainment has been quietly putting out superb high def discs, and this is no exception. The world-hopping adventures and locations just pop off the screen. Rich, vibrant, and lush are some good adjectives for this transfer’s look. Even the audio in a DTS track packed a punch. Bass heavy during explosions, quite for dialogue, and featuring a warm presence in the surround speakers, again, Summit delivers a proper and solid presentation.

Commentary: Rian Johnson and his producer are on this track, as Johnson does most of the chatting about all things The Brothers Bloom. It’s a pretty good track, full of insight and fun tidbits.

From Sketch to Celluloid: In HD, this 12 minute piece shows off Johnson’s early thumbnail storyboards, and how they evolved into what we seen on screen.

In Bloom: Here’s a better extra, as it details the making of the film in HD. It has a fly-on-the-wall feeling to it, and if you don’t want to sit through the commentary, here’s a great alternative.

20 minutes of some decent Deleted Scenes (with Optional Commentary), Trailers, and a Still Gallery round out the extras.

Conclusion: Decent film, decent Blu-ray. Worth seeing either by renting or buying. Johnson is someone to watch.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: