Director Rian Johnson cheats the moviegoers by filling his new film with enough puzzling froth to bubble through an hour, but leaves the audience feeling empty in the end. To his credit, Johnson picked a cast of talented actors, who engage in dynamic dialogue among exotic locations, with settings and costumes lavish enough for a royal court. All this, coupled with clever camerawork and enticing plot cons the audience into thinking that there is more to the story than first meets the eye. Indeed it may be so.
The film revolves around veteran con-artist brothers Bloom and Stephen (played by Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo respectively), who embark on their last job to scam a lonely eccentric heiress Penelope Stamp (played by Rachel Weisz), with the help of a sexy but virtually mute side kick Bang Bang (played by Rinko Kikuchi). The job becomes complicated when Bloom, the youngest brother who has grown tired of playing characters and having his life cast by Stephen, falls in love with Penelope.
The twisted script is filled with enough hints at hidden meanings to keep one guessing who is conning whom. Aided by a superb camerawork, it creates a fairytale with plenty of holes to allow various interpretations of each character. This seeming cleverness tricked me into hoping that the ending would be something less predictable. In the end, Steven’s "perfect con," left me unrewarded.
Despite this original disappointment, the visual aspect of the film and one underlying reference to the “The Unwritten Life” may redeem it as a story behind a story. This film appears to be less of a con film and more of a love story with a subtext about one’s perception of life. My only wish is that there was more real character development and less hints about it.
Director: Rian Johnson
Actors: Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi
Run time: 113 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 (violence, some sensuality and brief strong language)
My rating: 3.5 out 5
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