The Brothers Bloom (2008)

Con movies almost always follow the same formula. Sometimes there is revenge that alters the formula, but typically we meet a lovable bunch of con persons who use lots of terms referring to different types of cons, which we believe because they are the same terms as in all of the other movies, they come up with an incredibly intricate plan that has at least one really weak point and then they proceed to show us conning the marks and doing it so well that everything will surely turn out wonderful for everyone, only to have things go horribly wrong. Of course at the end of the movie we find out the that bit about things going wrong was always part of the plan and that things actually went better than planned. The marks are always of either one of two types, horrible people who we want to see ruined by the con, or lovable people who are naive and thus have our sympathy who invariably are let in on the con after it's over and because our con person is so charming they forgive them and join their little gang. There is one variation on this formula where the con persons are not nice, lovable people and in those films the marks are always of the first type - horrible people who are much worse than the con persons and deserve everything that happens to them. In both the regular and irregular formula con films, the heroes ride off into the sunset, generally much richer than when we met them at the start of the movie.
This is paragraph where I am supposed to tell you that this film is different and brilliant and takes the con film to a whole new level. But, that's too predictable, and wouldn't be entirely true. This film is layered. It breaks the formula at a crucial step. Does this make it better than other con films? I think the answer is both yes and no. By breaking the formula, there are certain expectations that are not met and in that sense it's not better than other con films. Note, this is not a film about a con person or persons, so as the long con is being played us audience members expect certain things to happen and if they don't we expect to know why they didn't. But, I will also contend that this is better than the vast majority of con films for the very same reason. The cons that are portrayed are elaborate and entertaining. But, when they break out of the formula, it completely fits with the movie, so while straying from the genre, it remains completely faithful to itself. To be honest, I'm a little surprised. My other experience with this film maker is Looper, which while entertaining didn't seem to be completely thought out in certain areas. The Brothers Bloom precedes Looper by four years but in my opinion is a far stronger movie.
I only allowed myself to get into the con because of the charisma of the characters, which i think is true for all the con films that I like. You can't tell me that George Clooney as Frank Ocean isn't charismatic and I will watch each and every sequel to the Oceans 11 movies that they ever make based off of the charisma of the main character. Adrien Brodey in the role of Bloom is the same kind of character. He's smooth when he needs to be, but he's vulnerable and a little bit susceptible to the con he and his brother are running. There is something about that combination that is enchanting, not to mention that in my opinion Adriend Brodey is one of the finest actors of my generation. He may not be the most handsome leading man his age, but he makes that work for him and not against him. Supporting Brodey are Rachel Weisz and Mark Ruffalo. Weisz plays the very eccentric Penelope who is the lovable and naive mark. The onscreen chemistry between Brodey and Weisz is palpable (I know that sounds cheesy, but watch the film and tell me you don't feel it). The third leg then if Mark Ruffalo as Bloom's brother, Stephen. I've said it before and I'm sure it will come up again, but I'm not a big Ruffalo fan. With that being said, he didn't muck up the Avengers and he didn't ruin this film. I am willing to concede that he is more than competent in the acting department, so while not ruining any scenes, he was certainly the weakest actor on screen in every scene, not just with Brodey and Weisz. The silent partner in the con, and I do mean silent, is Rinko Kikuchi's character, Bang Bang. While I thoroughly enjoyed the Brothers Bloom, I really wanted to watch the movie about Bang Bang. Her character serves the role of the quirky, genius sidekick, but writer, director Rian Johnson went so over-the-top with her she was almost always the most interesting thing happening in every group scene. There are two minor characters played by the seasoned stars Max Schell and Robbie Coltrane. Schell's character of Diamond Dog is hard to pin down. I can't tell you if he's a good guy or bad guy because he's so deep into the con I was never sure what was part of the con or what was supposed to have really transpired between he and Bloom and Stephen. It's difficulat because this film uses a lot of the real histories of characters to build their con. Robbie Coltrane on the other hand plays the Curator who is part of the con and does a very excellent job with a Belgian accent as well as adding little comedic touches in all of his scenes.
I don't often watch movies a second time, not counting my limited collection of favorites, which to mollify your curiosity, does not contain any con films. But, I have made a note to watch this again at a later date, say six or twelve months from now because I know I missed some of what was going on. I mentioned at the beginning that this film is layered. Con films can often be tricky, but this one is seemingly simple until you are deep into it where you suddenly realize that what you think is a big reveal only reveals another layer of the con. I will not have a hard time at all rewatching Brodey and Weisz's performances when I try to get to the bottom of this film.

The Brothers Bloom at IMDb

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

It's interesting that the Bourne Legacy doesn't have Bourne in it. Sure, there's that one still shot of Bourne on a news program. And they do talk about him a lot. But this movie was very definitely made in spite of Matt Damon's absence. You know those films you see where the actor has died part way through filming and instead of abandoning the project, they hobble something together to release anyway? This is not one of those. Which is good, not only because it would be a terrible, horrible tragedy if we lost Matt Damon, but they don't try to use any footage of him, or body doubles. Instead, the filmmakers went the route that I've seen some television series take, like CSI Crime Scene Investigation, for example - when Grissom is gone for the first season but everyone still talks about him because that is what real people would do, not just pretend that he had never been there. This is one of those films, though it might be more appropriate to consider this a film set in the "Bourne Universe" than an actual Bourne film, though there are a few things that happen in the auxillary storylines that are applicable to Bourne (if Damon ever reprises the role - which he said he would love to do in an interview on NPR).
So, Bourne is part of Treadwell along with a bunch of other guys. Then there is Blackbriar which gets activated or at least brought into the spotlight to help clean up the Treadwell mess. Then there is Alcon (or Alcom) that Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is part of which is a program built off the legacy of Treadwell and Blackbriar. And then there is a new off-the-books program called ARX which builds on Alcon but the agents lack empathy and are even more morally lacking. On the flipside of the equation, we have the CIA running Treadwell and involved in Blackbriar, but not the other two. This is where Admiral Turso (Stacy Keach) and Colonel Byer (Edward Norton) come in. At one point I think there group is called National Security Research something-or-other. I guess on the face of things it doesn't matter - we have good guys who are doing their patriotic duty and we have the spymasters who manipulate them and periodically decide to kill them all off to keep from getting in trouble for the illegal things they are doing. I might need to actually get into the Ludlum books that all fo these films are based on just so that I can figure out who is who. Of course, the conspiracy part of it is appealing to me. I have heard from a number of varied sources that the Bourne books are a good read.
Cross is not Bourne. Renner is not Damon. Renner doesn't try to be Damon, and the director and writer didn't try and make Cross be a Bourne-knock-off. They're just a couple of blokes in the same line of work who get the short shrift and just want to be left alone. They'll kill if they have to, but only so they can get away. That's pretty much where the similarity ends, but that's enough to get the audience on their side. Cross knows who he is, and more importantly knows who he was before he became an agent and he doesn't want to be that guy again, nor does he want to die. The good doctor, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) is a loose end that the CIA and/or Byer's people want wrapped up, but also the person that Cross thinks can help him. She's a very smart lady who doesn't have a clue what is going on. Fortunately for her, she listens to Cross and helps him, which in turn keeps her alive.
One of the things that I like about the Bourne films (all four of them) is that the good guys get hurt and are actually slowed down because of it. I also like how much grey area there is to play in, nearly all of the immediate threats to the protagonists are just people following orders without knowing why they're doing what they're doing. Even the main heavies are doing what they do because they think it serves a greater good, namely being the defense of the U.S.
Renner is the hot action guy of the moment. Coming off a stron performance in the Avengers, he hits the mark with the Bourne Legacy even as he awaits Hansel and Gretel dropping into theatres. I like the guy. He can act and pull off some good action sequences in a believable manner. I hope to see many more films from him, of which I hope at least several he's playing Hawkeye.

The Bourne Legacy on IMDb