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Brothers Bloom, The

EMAILPRINTSummit Entertainment

Brothers Bloom, The reviews
55
8.1 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 36 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Adventure  |  Comedy  |  Crime  |  Drama  |  Romance

Written by: Rian Johnson

Directed by: Rian Johnson

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 15, 2009

Running Time: 109 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for violence, some sensuality and brief strong language

Starring Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, and Robbie Coltrane

For as long as they can remember, the Brothers Bloom have had only each other to depend on. From their childhood in a long series of gloomy foster homes to their highflying lives as international con artists, Stephen and Bloom have shared everything. Stephen brilliantly concocts intricate stories that the brothers live out, but he's still searching for the perfect con, the one where "everyone gets what they want." Meanwhile, Bloom yearns for "an unwritten life"—a real adventure, one not dreamed up by his old brother. Eager to retire, Bloom agrees to take part in one last grand scam. He insinuates himself into the life of Penelope, a bored, single New Jersey heiress. When a genuine romance begins to blossom between them, he is reluctant to exploit her naivete, but Penelope has already taken the bait. But as Stephen's elaborate web of deceit pulls tighter, Bloom begins to wonder if his brother has devised the most dangerous con of his life. (Summit Entertainment)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88

USA Today Claudia Puig

The Brothers Bloom has it all: charming romance, jaunty adventure story, witty dialogue, gorgeous cinematography and superb performances.

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83

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Hugely entertaining.

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75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The Brothers Bloom with satisfy those with a yearning for lighthearted heist tales, comedies, and offbeat romances.

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75

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

The jaunty, energetic first 10 minutes of The Brothers Bloom are easily the best first 10 minutes of any film I've seen this year. And while the succeeding hour and 43 minutes doesn't hold up to the movie's opening scenes, the whole endeavor is still an awfully good time.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

This time we expect to be played, but the twist is that we're also touched -- which, the film implies, is the cinema's own form of deception.

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70

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Johnson has infused The Brothers Bloom with so much heart and beauty that one can and should easily overlook its discomfiting moments. The truth is, the film's even more profound and touching upon second viewing.

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70

Film Threat Stina Chyn

A little bit of screwball comedy and a lot of film noir, add a dash of suspense-drama, and half a dozen card tricks too, then you have the recipe for making The Brothers Bloom.

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70

Washington Post John Anderson

The Brothers Bloom is all about exploding forms, tropes and archetypes. But it's also a charmer, a witty sandbagging of one's resistance to fairy tale and a movie afflicted with a kind of comic Tourette's syndrome.

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67

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Never achieves the satisfaction of a real crackerjack con movie.

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67

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Johnson sets viewers up for greatness, but ultimately offers much milder pleasures. The film isn’t an outright con, but it’s easy to feel a little misled by the end.

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63

Premiere Jordan Burchette

Weisz infuses comic complexity into the ensemble, which is at times genuinely funny.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This movie is lively at times, it's lovely to look at, and the actors are persuasive in very difficult material. But around and around it goes, and where it stops, nobody by that point much cares.

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63

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Even after the plot has left you behind, you still watch The Brothers Bloom with a smile, because the actors are so engaging.

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50

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The Brothers Bloom is much more interested in showing off its own smarts, such as they are, than in challenging the audience's.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The old carnival phrase "Close, but no cigar" comes to mind when watching The Brothers Bloom , a globetrotting heist film that starts off terrifically and then progressively deflates.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Amy Binacolli

Emotionally, The Brothers Bloom hasn't a trace of detachment or cynicism. Even if you don't quite comprehend the ending (there seem to be 12 of them), you'll still feel the wallop of its consequences.

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50

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

High-style goofballing and globetrotting can get you pretty far, but maybe not as far as Johnson wants us to go.

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50

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Breezily enjoyable for about 10 minutes, until you realize the entire movie is going to be pitched at the same exuberantly manic pace. It's like being trapped in an elevator with a performing poodle that doesn't know when to quit.

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50

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Rian Johnson's film is a scam wrapped in a sham.

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50

Slate Dana Stevens

Like Anderson, Johnson has a fine eye for color, great taste in music, and a knack for painterly compositions, but the world he creates is airless and ultimately empty.

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50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The movie fails to add up to the sum of its laborious parts. There's no emotional investment in any of the characters, and you can see the writer-director's windup con coming a mile away.

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50

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As much as you admire the stagecraft and the technical skills on display, when all is said and done, that's all it is: a fancy, not-quite-two-hour stunt.

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50

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

It often seems precious and overconceived, its accumulating crosses and double-crosses as devoid of consequence as a child's backyard game.

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50

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A couple of rather Dickensian supporting roles by Robbie Coltrane and Maximilian Schell fall embarrassingly flat as they are more creations of costumes and makeup than actual flesh-and-blood. But then the same can be said for the entire movie.

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40

Los Angeles Times Robert Abele

The leads aren't only miscast -- Brody over-mopes and the usually wonderful Ruffalo seems out of sorts as a rascally schemer -- but interest in the con plot fades as the director's bag of tricks empties further.

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20

New York Daily News Staff (Not credited)

An overstuffed failure that mistakes sleight storytelling for dazzling entertainment.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryan G gave it a10:
The movie was great and I love the cinematography and costume design not to mention how they captured the elegance and beauty of each setting.

connie l gave it a10:
The movie displayed elegant art and I loved it!!!

Christine c gave it an8:
Oone of the better movies i have recently seen, adrian brody is awesome. Quirky and entertaining.

Jay H gave it a5:
It’s certainly offbeat, in a good sort of way, but in spite of a sincere effort, the film doesn’t quite work. The cast tries. The style in which the film was made gets tiresome pretty quickly, and the manic pace begins to bore.

Alexandria D gave it a9:
Although the ending with the Russians threw me for a bit of a loop, both times I viewed it, my overall feeling for this film is LOVE! I laughed, to the dismay of other movie goers throughout, was captivated by the 4 main actors, and enchanted by the story. Sure one must suspend disbelief for the poor Bloom who so wishes for love but has such difficulty committing. I know...it is a drag when one realizes that movies reflect life! Ha!

Caitlyn M gave it a10:
A wonderful, unpredictable ride. Some confusing moments, but overall a blast. Great characters, great acting, great storytelling. It kept me enthralled from start to finish, and the end was very satisfying.

J F gave it a10:
This was an entertaining and fun movie, it should have been treated with more respect, the actors earned it. Shame on Summit.

Read more user comments >

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