Writer/director Rian Johnson wowed critics with his rookie effort, Brick, a smart piece of film noir set in a contemporary high school environment. Johnson set the bar high with his first film, but his second movie The Brothers Bloom looks like it's just as original, just as entertaining as Brick.

Johnson nabbed an A-list cast for The Brothers Bloom, pairing up Mark Ruffalo and Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody as con artist brothers.

It's an unlikely bit of casting, but it works like magic onscreen. Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz plays the isolated, completely out of touch woman they have settled on as their last mark before Brody retires from the family business.

I've seen about 30 minutes-worth of footage, enough to get me hooked, and enough to convince me Johnson's not a one trick pony. The Brothers Bloom sort of reminded me of a Coen Brothers comedy, yet it had more of a fairy tale sort of feel. I'm not doing justice to Johnson's writing/directing...it's hard to adequately describe the tone of the film. I believe if the rest of the film's as good as the 30 minutes I watched, this one's going to take a lot of people by surprise.

The Story

Bloom (Ruffalo) is the mastermind behind decades-worth of ingenious cons, and now his brother Stephen (Brody) is ready to call it quits. But Bloom convinces Stephen there's one last con they need to pull off before they can walk away for good.

The Brothers Bloom looks to blossom into a box office winner starting October 24, 2008**.

More on The Brothers Bloom

Interview with Writer/Director Rian Johnson

The Brothers Bloom Photos, Poster and Trailer

More on Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz

** - Moved to December 19, 2008.