Buy Or Don’t Buy

The Brothers Bloom is a globe-trotting, rip-roaring con man film directed by Rian Johnson that comes out this summer. I loved Brick, Johnson’s first film, and I’m anxious to see how he manages without that film’s ’40s throwback style to lean on. Judging from the film’s first 10 minutes, some Buys and Don’t Buys:

Don’t Buy: The narration - I know that Wes Anderson doesn’t hold a patent on third-person omniscent narration, but when you’re using it in a montage about some precocious kids who will grow up to be our protagonists, it’s hard not to look like you’re copying The Royal Tenanbaums. Throw in the over-the-head insert shots and Johnson just seems like he’s straight-up aping Anderson’s style. Which leads me to…

Don’t Buy: The kids - From the opening sequence we can tell we’re not operating firmly in the real world here - which is fine - but I have a problem with overly precious children in films who dress and talk like adults. It unsettles me. When a kid flicks his pixie stick like a cigarette and mutters, “Playground bourgeoisie…” I can understand why I’m supposed to like it, but I just can’t bring myself to. However…

Buy: Neither of these things will be in the rest of the film - Which means I can look forward to a rollicking adventure film about con artists who blow things up and seduce Rachel Weisz. If the film, as the trailer suggests, turns out to be The Darjeeling Limited meets Ocean’s 11, that’s something I can get behind.

What do you guys think?