It’s an early September afternoon at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and I am at the press junket for The Brothers Bloom, director Rian Johnson’s con man comedy starring Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, and Mark Ruffalo. All four are participating in a series of roundtable interviews with journalists from around the continent. I’m sitting in a room with eight or nine film critics, most of whom I’m unfamiliar with, running the gamut from serious scribes to gossip hounds. I think one of them is infamous quote whore Earl Dittman, but I can’t be sure.
The Brothers Bloom is Rian Johnson’s second film, following the 2005 neo-noir Brick, and his first with a substantial budget and big stars. “It’s a big disconnect for me going from Brick, which was a movie made basically with some friends, and coming into this. Frankly, there’s a big part of me that was terrified. But then, a big part of the movie is about faking, so…” Laughter ensues.
Johnson returns to the topics of con men and fakery throughout the junket. “The essence of a con game, I think it was Ricky Jay who described it, is: imagine you’re in a play that goes on for two or three weeks and everyone else is in this play, and you’re the only one who doesn’t have a script. That’s the essence of a big con.”
He continues, “What really got me started was the notion of a con man love story. Part of what got me excited about it was: could you do a love story? Can you build up to an emotional payoff at the end instead of just a clever twist?”
A journalist interrupts and asks in all seriousness, “Did Anne Hathaway’s current situation play any role in the inception?” This is followed by a long description of Anne Hathaway’s alleged con man ex-fiancé.
“Are your scripts always inspired by the National Enquirer?” someone asks.
Johnson shouts, “Yes!”
Rachel Weisz is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Maybe this is reckless hyperbole, but I doubt it. Her performance is one of the best things about The Brothers Bloom—she’s charming and funny.
She’s also amazingly cheery in person, maintaining her disposition when asked why she wasn’t in The Mummy 3, diplomatically reporting that it was because, having just had a baby, she was unable to spend several months in China. Uh-huh. She laughs kindly at everyone’s jokes, even the one I made. Ever make Rachel Weisz and a roomful of journalists laugh? Hoo boy, that’s a story for the grandkids.
“Rian was completely unique,” she says. “He’s equally as laid back as he is intelligent, and for him the whole process is about having a wonderful time.” Surprisingly, few of the questions posed to her are Brothers Bloom-related, but we do learn that she doesn’t think Valentine’s Day is a big deal, and that she keeps her Oscar in her bathroom.
Adrien Brody is asked, “Was this your easiest role to play because all actors are con men?”
“Well, that’s an assumption,” he laughs. “When I was very young I was a magician. When you’re a boy, the idea of creating this illusion of a magic trick and pulling the wool over somebody’s eyes and watching their fascination with that is phenomenal. And acting, to some extent, is that.”
The discussion turns to the craft of acting, and Brody talks of how his past characters stay with him. “They linger. They’re ghosts in a way. I don’t feel haunted by ghosts, I feel that they live among us. I don’t find them incredibly negative, even if they bring up a level of sadness in me. It’s something I experienced and absorbed somehow. It affected me, and is now part of my consciousness. In a sense, it made me more of a man.”
A pause. Someone blurts out, “Where do you keep your Oscar?”
Brody replies sternly, “I don’t discuss that.”
Mark Ruffalo is the last to enter the room, and the conversation quickly turns political. “If John McCain wins this fucking election I’m moving out of the United States!”
“Did you say that four years ago?” I ask.
“Uh… yeah. Something like that. I keep threatening, like anyone cares.” Hindsight has rendered this exchange bittersweet. Yes, the Democrats won the White House, but dammit, Canada could have had Ruffalo!
A critic asks, “Have you ever [had to promote] a movie you didn’t like?”
“Oh yeah, all the time!” says Ruffalo cheerfully. “Y’know, it’s no secret, the romantic comedies are not really my favourites…”
“Just Like Heaven,” someone whispers into my ear.
Referring to the con man characters, Ruffalo says, “They have this threadbare elegance to them,” he says. “They’re well-dressed, but their suits have been stuffed in a bag for a few days.” He pauses. “And that’s kinda what it’s like being an actor. You’re kinda selling something. I mean, here I am right now, hawking a movie, y’know? And I’m trying to get your confidence to go and see it, and it’s all sorta tears of a clown.”
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