The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2008): USA

Reviewed by Antara Medina. Viewed at the AFI Film festival, Arclight Hollywood.

A wonderful movie all around, The Brothers Bloom, is a movie that can be easily watched several times without it getting boring. Director Rian Johnson has taken a brave step forward into a new territory with his second film, a comedy  much different from his 2005 debut, Brick. This story is a fun-filled romp through a timeless fantasy world, involving romance, tragedy, and the perfect con. The movie has great cinematography as well as acting. The actors in this film were picked perfectly. The plot is well addressed and clear.

The story begins with our protagonists as young children growing up in constant transit between foster parents. They  realize at a young age that they can manipulate their peers through the early stages of  magnificent con artistry.  They grow up to become the world’s best con men, capable of swindling just about anybody. The younger brother, however, always the puppet of his older brother’s schemes, is dissatisfied with his life as con man, and decides to part ways with his older brother. Somehow, though, he is talked into doing one last con. In this he is supposed to stage a romance with an east coast eccentric heiress, but makes the number one mistake of a con man: he starts to fall in love with his mark. This movie is clever up to the brim.

Not only was the cinematography excellent, but the soundtrack was just as good. This could easily become one of my favorite movies.