Entertainment

11:07 AM CST on Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The Brothers Grimm

C+

Directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. PG-13 (for violence, frightening sequences). 118 min. $29.99, DVD and UMD for PSP.

WHAT'S UP, DOC? Is it a spoof? Is it a fantasy? Is it historical fiction? Actually, it's all over the map. We expect some bizarre humor from Terry Gilliam. But just as this odd mix seems to be going for a laugh, it gets deadly serious. It begins with one brother, Jacob, trading the family's cow for magic beans, which are not magic, when their mother needs medicine. It transitions to Jake and his cynical brother, Wilhelm, as grown con men, staging and "solving" attacks from evil spirits to scam gullible peasants.

LOOKIN' GOOD: What the film lacks in coherence it sports in impressive special effects. The forest moves. Literally. A horse spews cobwebs that wrap up a child and allow the horse to swallow it whole. Mud enfolds and transforms another child. If only we had a better story.

BEST EXTRA: "Bringing the Fairytale to Life," with interviews and a look at how they made the most fantastical shots work.

BOTTOM LINE: A souvenir for Heath Ledger fans and an intriguing experiment, more fascinating for what it could have been than for what it is.

Nancy Churnin