Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Brothers Bloom Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 5, 2010

Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a standard making of featurette; interview with director Rian Johnson; collage of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Rian Johnson; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Trust me, this is my life...

Two of my favorite con men films are Spanish-language productions. The first is titled Nine Queens (the original title of the film is Nueve reinas), and is directed by Argentinean helmer Fabian Bielinsky. The film tells the story of two men who decide to pull off the perfect scam but find themselves on the wrong end of it. It is a brilliant film with a terrific script, arguably one of the very best the genre has seen. The second is titled Swindled (its original title is Incautos), and is directed by Miguel Bardem, brother of the famous Spanish actor Javier Bardem. Swindled follows the deeds of a group of con artists (and yes, they truly are artists) who decide to do one last job that will allow them to retire in style.

What I liked about Nine Queens and Swindled is that I could never guess what was going on in the heads of their main protagonists. With most con men films, I can typically tell where their stories are heading long before they reach the half-hour mark, but with these two films I was totally clueless. If you are in a mood for something different, and truly original, see Nine Queens or Swindled, or both. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom is another film that I could not quite figure out - though not because I could not guess how the film would end; rather because I wasn’t quite so sure what type of a film it was meant to be. Its story has some interesting twists, but if you pay close attention to the small details you should be able to figure out that there is a pattern that unlocks its secret rather easily. What puzzled me is the fact that The Brothers Bloom is at its most compelling in its sporadic long sequences where the main characters are seen alone, contemplating their lives, not when they were conning.

The film follows the deeds of two brothers, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right, Shutter Island) and Bloom (Adrien Brody, The Pianist, The Darjeeling Limited), both of whom are, to put it mildly, experts at what they do. After years of working hard and living together, Stephen and Bloom finally part ways, frustrated as it seems by their success and each other. Bloom heads to Montenegro and starts drinking while Stephen remains in America with his girlfriend Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi, Assault Girls).

Eventually, Stephen visits Bloom and asks that he joins him for one last job - which would be their biggest one yet. The target is Penelope (Rachel Weisz, My Blueberry Nights, Agora), an extravagant and beautiful young woman living alone in a giant mansion somewhere in New Jersey. Bloom jumps in front of Penelope’s Lamborghini, she crashes it, and then as planned the two fall in love. But before Bloom can realize he really falls in love with Penelope and things get out of control.

I liked how The Brothers Bloom zigzags between being a con men film and a romantic picture. There is a certain charm to it that reminded me about the films of Wes Anderson. It does not always make sense but - if you are willing to believe that there are rich single beautiful women like Penelope who do not have a problem crashing expensive Italian cars every chance they get but do have a problem finding a man to keep them company, then you want to see it.

Shot on locations throughout Central and Eastern Europe, The Brothers Bloom looks gorgeous. The panoramic vistas from Prague, a city I adore, are absolutely breathtaking.

The Brothers Bloom Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

This is a strong high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is excellent throughout the entire film, clarity very pleasing, and contrast levels consistent. The color-scheme does not disappoint either - blues, greens, yellows, reds, browns, and blacks look very rich yet natural; the footage from Montenegro and especially the Czech Republic is absolutely gorgeous. This being said, there are a couple of scenes where I noticed very mild edge-enhancement creeping in; macroblocking, however, is nowhere to be seen. I also did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. Lastly, when blown through a digital projector, the high-definition transfer conveys wonderful depth and tightness. All in all, The Brothers Bloom looks quite impressive on Blu-ray, and I have no doubt that fans of the film will be pleased with the presentation. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Brothers Bloom Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is potent and punchy (for example, the scene with the BMW from the second half of the film has excellent oomph), the rear channels not overly active but effective, and the high-frequencies not overdone. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Nathan Johnson's music score either. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

I tested only a couple of scenes with the English LPCM 2.0 track. Frankly, this is an average at best audio track. Dynamically, there is a sizable gap between the English LPCM 2.0 track and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, with bass potency being seriously compromised. The dialog, however, appears to be equally crisp, clean, stable and easy to follow.

The Brothers Bloom Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Featurette - a standard featurette with raw footage from the various locations seen throughout The Brothers Bloom. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

Interview - an interview with director Rian Johnson in which he explains what expired him to shoot The Brothers Bloom, the narrative, the main characters, etc. In English, not subtitled.

Deleted scenes - a collage of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Rian Johnson. In English, not subtitled. (33 min).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for The Brothers Bloom. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Brothers Bloom Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is a wonderful dreamy feel to Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom. It is one of those films where not everything makes sense, but the story is so beautiful that it does not really matter. I enjoyed it a lot. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment, looks and sounds very good. It is, however, Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.