Siriustar

Had the good luck of happening upon a focus group screening for the new Rian Johnson film, The Brothers Bloom. And I have to say, hands down, that it is already my favorite movie of 2008. The premise – a pair of con men brothers orchestrate a high jinks heist that sends them on an international escapade – is beatific in its old school approach to story writing. It also helps that I’m a sucker for anything that’s even remotely stylized, so every single luxuriant set piece and costume really hit the spot.

I must admit, as well, that I’m a sap for Adrian Brody and Mark Ruffalo, aka the Brothers Bloom. Even Rachel Weisz is much more loaded with humor than I thought, perfectly highlighted in one particular scene where she demonstrates her multitude of shut-in hobbies. And Bang Bang (pictured above) is the most bad-ass female character to walk the screen since Beatrix Kiddo. So the film is kinda how it’d be if the Coen Bros and Wes Anderson teamed up to make The Sting or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. But the rest of you have to wait until the fall to see this piece of brilliance, solly cholly.