They’d never let the truth come between them.
The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they’ve decided to take on one last job – showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.
Welcome to the world of “The Brothers Bloom,” where deception is an art and nothing is as it seems. The brothers have perfected the art of swindling fortunes through years of fraternal teamwork. Now they’ve decided to take on one last spectacular job-luring a beautiful and eccentric heiress into an elaborate plot that takes them around the world.
The Brothers Bloom, orphaned at a young age, begin performing confidence tricks as young children; Stephen dreams up elaborate scenarios and his younger brother, Bloom, creates trust with the marks. Stephen creates his first con as a way of encouraging his brother to talk to girls.
Twenty-five years later, the brothers are the world’s most successful con men. They even have a regular accomplice: Bang Bang, a Japanese explosives expert who rarely speaks. Bloom, however, is dissatisfied with being nothing but an actor in Stephen’s schemes. He quits and moves to Montenegro. Three months later, Stephen finds Bloom and convinces him to execute one final con. The brothers will masquerade as antiques dealers and target Penelope Stamp, a rich, socially-isolated heiress who lives alone in a New Jersey mansion.
Bloom and Penelope meet when Bloom purposely runs into Penelope’s sports car with his bike. Penelope reveals that she has been alone for most of her life and has picked up an array of strange hobbies such as juggling and kung fu. Bloom senses Penelope’s craving for adventure and hints that he is sailing to Europe tomorrow. The next morning, Penelope arrives at the harbor to sail with the brothers to Greece.
On the boat, Melville, a Belgian hired by Stephen, begins the con, telling Penelope that the brothers Bloom are in fact antiques smugglers and he wants their help with a smuggling job in Prague. Penelope is thrilled with the idea of becoming a smuggler and convinces the brothers to accept the job, unaware that this is part of the con. Meanwhile, Bloom and Penelope are becoming attracted to one another, but Stephen warns Bloom that the con will fail if he actually falls in love with Penelope.
Read the Full Production Notes
The Brothers Bloom
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane, Maximilian Schell, Zachary Gordon
Directed by: Riann Johnson
Screenplay by: Riann Johnson
Release Date: May 29th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, some sensuality and brief strong language.
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $3,531,756 (77.8%)
Foreign: $1,010,130 (22.2%)
Total: $4,541,886 (Worldwide)