by MARK SLUTSKY

It certainly sounds like a good idea: Terry Gilliam takes on famous fairy-tale writers the Brothers Grimm, transposing their stories onto a fantastical version of their lives. With his terrific visual imagination and dark humour, you'd think Gilliam would be a perfect match for the Grimm boys, whose stories tend to be much more cruel and grisly than the Disneyized versions we've been fed. And Gilliam, after all, is the guy who did Jabberwocky, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen!

But there's something very wrong with The Brothers Grimm - maybe it's the script, maybe it's the casting, maybe Gilliam's just worn-out after the Don Quixote debacle. While it looks amazing, it's not funny or scary where it's supposed to be, and it just doesn't hold together as a movie.

Set in the late 18th century, the film follows our very fictionalized brothers, played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. The two are well known around the German countryside as exorcizers of all things evil and supernatural. Unsurprisingly, though, they're frauds, conjuring up fake spirits and visions and then putting on well-choreographed shows to get rid of them and collect gullible townspeople's gold. But, as it would happen, they're eventually captured by a French general (Jonathan Pryce), who orders them to rescue a bunch of children kidnapped from a village. This time the culprit really is supernatural, and portrayed by Monica Bellucci to boot.

The first thing that really feels wrong about The Brothers Grimm is the casting. Sure, I like Damon, and Heath is... well, I suppose he's competent. But casting them as 18th-century German scholar rogues, despite the whole fantastical nature of the thing, just feels wrong. I know Ledger is Australian, but the two come across like a pair of corn-fed Midwestern American football players. Good for them for lending their star quality to a Gilliam production, but it just doesn't work.

And let's not even talk about Ehren Kruger's script, which is just lazy - full of holes and weak jokes. Not that there isn't anything of interest here; it's certainly fun to see Gilliam's take on Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and other fairy tales, all of which find their way into The Brothers Grimm's plot. And the movie is a rarity these days in that it's not entirely dependent on CGI for its special effects, which is definitely a plus.

The movie's visual splendour (it is lovely to look at - Gilliam certainly hasn't lost his touch for shooting astonishing-looking stuff) and lumpy script actually reminded me a lot of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, another beautifully shot, shittily written movie. Both largely take place mostly in the spooky woods, and feature a shrill showdown with an evil witch. And both, unfortunately, feel like products of sometimes-great, now-tired talents.

The Brothers Grimm open Friday, Aug. 26

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