The Pop Pirate

Disappointment

I love Terry Gilliam Movies. Brazil is an all-time favorite; combining bureaucracy, fantasy, plastic surgery, and terrorism into one beautiful film is no easy task. Twelve Monkeys was as entertaining as a time-travel film has any right to be, and Baron Munchausen is fairy tale storytelling of the highest caliber.

So it's understandable that when, in the summer of 2003, I heard that Terry Gilliam was making a movie about the Brothers Grimm I was stoked. I thought that it was a wonderful match: Mr. Gilliam's visual style and ability to tell effective stories seemed to dovetail nicely with the dark stories of the Grimm boys. This weekend, after more than two years of anticipation, I saw the film.

I don't know if it was merely how much my expectations had swollen during the intervening time, or if the movie really was that bad, but I was supremely disappointed. It wasn't the story itself that was deficient, it was the execution. The moments that had great potential for fun were bungled, elements that would have benefited from fleshing out were ignored, and whole characters that were confusing and unnecessary were given far too much screen time.

I'd like to think that it was the writing. Mr. Gilliam usually writes his own screenplays, but not so with this one. I'd like to blame the actors, but they did reasonably well with what they had. Unfortunately, I think one of my filmmaking idols simply dropped the ball. I suppose it happens to even the best.

I just consider myself lucky that I don't have to wait another seven years for Mr. Gilliam to redeem himself: his next film (written and directed) is Tideland- premiering this month at the Toronto Film Festival. Let the anticipation begin anew...

posted by Jeff @ 8:34 PM