The Brothers Bloom

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The Brothers Bloom

PG-13

Released May 29, 2009

1h 49m

Comedy

Drama

Adventure

Romance

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Popcornmeter

68%

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151 Reviews

64%

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50,000+ Ratings

Twenty-five years of swindling people are too much for Bloom and he wants out of the business. His brother, Stephen, convinces him to work on one final hustle, targeting an eccentric East Coast heiress named Penelope. The con game fails to play out as planned when Bloom falls in love with the irresistible woman.

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Critics Consensus

Despite strong performances The Brothers Bloom ultimately does not fulfill its lofty ambitions.

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Anna Smith

metro.co.uk

Pretty, well acted and amusing, if ultimately superficial.

Aug 23, 2018

Full Review

Andrew O'Hagan

London Evening Standard

We feel regularly discombobulated on the sea of this movie's ideas - which is a good thing for people feeling marooned by the general stupidity of this summer's film releases.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 9, 2010

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Robbie Collin

News of the World

If Wes Anderson and Terry Gilliam ever had a child, science would be amazed and appalled. But also, it would probably end up making a film like this.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 9, 2010

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It’s a charming fantasy of a con movie that is less interested in the well-played con than the colorfully executed idea of a con, among other things.

Apr 8, 2023

Full Review

Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

The acting is great and it looks beautiful but it feels more like an under developed Wes Anderson film than a fully realized Rian Johnson movie.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 31, 2021

Full Review

Kelly Jane Torrance

Washington Times

Writer-director Rian Johnson, following up his witty 2005 debut, the high school noir Brick, has a real gift for putting his own modern stamp on time-tested genres.

Rated: 3.5/4

Dec 7, 2018

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NA N

Rian Johnson is a plague upon cinema

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/25

Full Review

Dana B

It pulls the perfect con, which Ruffalo's character defines as a con where everyone gets what they want. The audience gets exactly what they want: A wild ride with an ending they won't see coming.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/25/25

Full Review

Troy R

Interesting, funny, characters were made well. Overall got a little too meta by needing to do like 10 double-crosses to make it feel like a con movie. Not a bad movie, but just got a little tired by the end.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/10/25

Full Review

Samim A

Great film, with great actors and funny moments

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/25

Full Review

Loren H

If you can completely suspend belief, you may like the film for its offbeat humor and vibe. However the script is a total mess of careless holes and convenient impossibilities. It quickly left me annoyed at being more clumsily manipulated as an audience member than the "mark" in the film. The annoyance merely built over the long course of the films descent into ever more contrived nonsensical scenarios.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

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Steve D

I didn't find it remotely amusing.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/07/23

Full Review

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Penelope

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Synopsis

Twenty-five years of swindling people are too much for Bloom and he wants out of the business. His brother, Stephen, convinces him to work on one final hustle, targeting an eccentric East Coast heiress named Penelope. The con game fails to play out as planned when Bloom falls in love with the irresistible woman.

Director: Rian Johnson
Producer: Ram Bergman, James D. Stern
Screenwriter: Rian Johnson
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Production Co: Endgame Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, Ram Bergman
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sensuality|Brief Strong Language|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Adventure, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.5M
Runtime: 1h 49m

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