Even Matt Damon and Heath Ledger Couldn’t Save This Disaster of a Movie
This fantasy adventure turned out to be the biggest flop of both actors' careers.
Director Terry Gilliam, known for his love of mythical tales, could not ignore the life of such wonderful storytellers as the Brothers Grimm. But being the creative man that he is, he came up with his own story for them, which became his own personal look at their life.
In Gilliam's movie, the Brothers Grimm are transformed from venerable bourgeois into adventurers who travel through the towns and, for a price, rid the good settlers of "evil spirits." But the main trick is that these "spirits" are played by the friends of the Grimms or with the help of stuffed monsters that the brothers themselves made.
At the same time, one of the brothers writes down all these stories. Many years later, he'll use them as the basis for his famous fairy tales.
The movie made a double impression on the audience. On the one hand, The Brothers Grimm had really impressive decorations and a great cast – in addition to Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, who played the main roles, the movie also starred Monica Bellucci, Lena Headey and Peter Stormare.
On the other hand, there is a vague plot and unnecessary scenes. The Brothers Grimm didn't become an action movie, a comedy, or a gothic thriller, even though it had all the makings of an excellent fantasy film in the spirit of Sleepy Hollow.
The fact that most of the $88 million budget was spent on paying the main stars may have been the main problem. The lack of budget is visible in almost every aspect of the movie, especially in the crumpled script, which was rewritten several times, sometimes even during the shooting.
At the end of the work the creators and screenwriters found themselves without a finale – they simply could not figure out how to finish the plot. The shooting was even postponed for six months, but that did not help.
The result was quite predictable: the movie failed at the box office, earning only $105 million. The movie, which could have been an enrichment for the fantasy genre, turned out to be one of the biggest flops for both Matt Damon and Heath Ledger.