the boys and i have been waiting for this movie for a little while now and were excited enough to run over on opening day to see it.

i liked this movie. but that's the problem. i liked it but i wanted to love it.

it was fun to look at--the sets, the colors, the costumes, and yes, matt damon and heath ledger aren't harsh on the eyes. the story was entertaining enough but it was shallow. not in a scary dude, where's my car? kind of way but shallow as in it never delved into the gritty, textures of the tales. yes, it was dark and blustery, but it seemed as though even the darkness and bluster were window dressing. maybe that was terry gilliam's way of representing the brothers. they are, after all, akin to snake oil salesman for much of the film. but it still left me with a feeling that it really could have been great and settled for good. there are flashes of what it could have been scattered throughout and they are almost enough to make it work. almost.

i love fairy tales and folk lore and often considered focusing on that area instead of medieval or combining the two (you know, thereby limiting even further any possibility of getting a job!) i understand that for the purpose of plot they had to make adjustments. they just chose to adapt such a large number of tales that you never felt drawn to any of them, including the tale of the film itself.

if you like gilliam's films, and i generally do, (who doesn't love monty python and the holy grail??) you will like this. you will laugh at gilliam's particular brand of dry and dark humor and you will enjoy the camp quality that the film has at times. it isn't a bad film. i just wanted more. i want to be able to say, "go. run and see this. right now." but i think, unless you are like me and need to see for yourself, you might want to rent this one.