With his 2006 debut "Brick," writer-director Rian Johnson had the vision and ambition to make a film noir set at a California high school. With his follow-up, he's made ... well, he's made a Wes Anderson movie, something that's idiosyncratic enough to qualify as a genre all its own.
If Johnson lacks originality here, though, he makes up for it in vibrant energy and visual flair. If he's copying, at least he's made a better Anderson movie than Anderson himself has in about a decade.
Eccentric characters, clever background details, anachronistic wardrobe choices and twee title cards announcing each new chapter -- they're all there, but Johnson's own complex, verbal voice does emerge from these familiar aesthetic trappings. His con-man comedy is a blast, anchored by strong actors who don't get many chances to show their funny sides.
Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody star as Stephen and Bloom, brothers who bounced between dozens of foster homes as children for their various schemes. Now, as adults, they've turned those schemes into a lucrative way of life. Stephen, the brains of the operation, draws up the elaborate plans.
Bloom, the romantic, inevitably gets too involved emotionally and swears he wants out for good. And so "The Brothers Bloom" follows that tried-and-true conceit of pulling off one last job which, naturally, becomes way more complicated than anyone could have imagined.
Rachel Weisz charms as a lonely heiress who starts out as the brothers' mark but becomes their exuberant partner in crime. And Rinko Kikuchi delivers a sly, silent performance as the brothers' explosives expert, appropriately named Bang Bang.
