Grimm determination

It didn't bode well for Terry Gilliam's $75 million epic when a lengthy production break had to be taken to cool frayed tempers. In the interim, the director was able to start and complete another film (Tideland). To compound his misery, the final cut was beset by interference from its producers. So no one was expecting a masterpiece.

And this isn't one. But even though the tale was also saddled with an unsatisfactory screenplay and a substituted cinematographer and leading lady, it's not that grim. Something shines through.

The clean-cut Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are the Brothers and aren't an obvious choice to play 18th-century German fraudsters, travelling from village to village staging fake supernatural occurrences which they exorcise for a hefty fee. But they go to it with a will as energetic comedy figures.

Arrested by Jonathan Pryce's Napoleonic agent, they are sent to a village where children are mysteriously disappearing in the nearby forest. There they meet Angelika (Lena Headey), a young hunter with whom they both fall in love. But not heeding her warnings, the pair explore the woods, are assailed by real magic, a good many startling CGI effects and the attentions of a predatory wolf. Nevertheless, they find the solution to the missing children.

The tone of the film is that of a comic horror rather than a horror comic and the set-pieces are exuberantly far-fetched in Gilliam's familiar style. They are a good deal more watchable than the cast itself, who traverse the story with some enthusiasm but little conviction.

Sadly, there is not much identification with The Brothers Grimm's quirky one-dimensional characters, and it is this absence of emotional content that prevents the film catching the imagination.

But if looks could kill, you will at least be wounded - Gilliam couldn't be dull if his life relied on it.

The Brothers Grimm
Cert: 12A