Looking Ahead: ‘The Brothers Bloom’

In 2006, a little movie called Brick surprised the hell out of me. A high school noir, thick with complicated, stylized detective language, mysterious figures and femme fatales? Skepticism levels were high â€”Â and for some people, the conceit didn’t work.

It was my third-favorite movie of the year â€” though to be more honest, it was one of my three or four favorite movies of the year in the sort of multiple-way tie that lists don’t generally allow for. I’ve been waiting since then â€” or at least it feels like it’s been that long â€”Â for director Rian Johnson’s follow-up film, The Brothers Bloom. When first I heard of it, it was supposed to open last fall. There was a preview in the mainstream theaters and everything.

Then the release date was December. Then it was January.

Then it sort of disappeared off my radar.

Now it’s set for May 29. All that date switching could be a bad thing, but I prefer to think it’s just a sign that the world doesn’t quite know what to do with Johnson’s peculiar and charming sort of heightened-reality storytelling. This time through, he’s made a film that appears to be about two brothers trying to pull that one last con on a slightly odd woman who’s spent her life collecting hobbies. Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are the brothers; Rachel Weisz is the mark; Rinko Kikuchi, from Babel, is the muscle.

It’s a recipe I have a lot of hope for. Today, the movie’s Twitter account turned up a new trailer, which, in the words of the post, is slightly similar to the old trailer. There may be some sarcasm here; it actually looks very, very similar to the old trailer, with a few new glowing quotes wedged in. It’s still enough to make me cross my fingers that this time, the damn movie will actually come out. I hope.

(Want more? Here‘s an interview with Johnson at Film.com.)

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