Two-Time Oscar Winner Adrien Brody Starred In The Most Underrated Rian Johnson Movie

Two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody knows a thing (or two!) about serious dramatic acting. The actor became the youngest person to win the coveted Best Actor in a Leading Role award at the age of 29 for his part in “The Pianist” in 2003, and more recently he took the award home again for his role as László Tóth in Brady Corbet’s impressive 2024 drama “The Brutalist.” It might surprise fans to learn that Brody is actually quite good at lighter fare given his absolutely atrocious time hosting “Saturday Night Live,” but in 2008 he starred in director Rian Johnson’s most underrated film — “The Brothers Bloom.” 

“The Brothers Bloom” is a con-artist movie: a ridiculous caper with all kinds of meta-commentary on storytelling throughout, and Brody is the aching soul at the center of it that holds the wackiness together. Though many don’t appreciate Johnson’s second feature as much as his more serious debut, the high school noir “Brick,” “The Brothers Bloom” is a near-perfect romantic dramedy for fans of the golden age of Hollywood. It’s funny, it’s smart, and it’s extremely heartfelt, and it wouldn’t work without Brody.

In “The Brothers Bloom,” con-men Bloom (Brody) and Stephen Bloom (Mark Ruffalo) have been tricking people and making a living off of it since they were young children, but Bloom has grown tired of living out the various stories Stephen has written for both of them. When they have “one last con” in which they’re supposed to rob a lonely, eccentric heiress named Penelope (Rachel Weisz), Bloom falls in love and worries that it’s just another one of Stephen’s schemes. In the wrong hands, Bloom could come across as petulant and moody, but Brody helps make his frustrations with his brother and his life feel more understandable. He’s haunted by a feeling of not having an identity, and he plays it as hollow and a little lost. At one point, Penelope tells him that he is “constipated in his soul,” and while that seems like a tough thing to emote, Bloom’s soul blockage is always apparent in Brody’s performance. The feeling is relatable, even if his life isn’t. 

The other characters, like Stephen, Penelope, the brothers’ explosives expert Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), and their fence, the Curator (Robbie Coltrane), are all outlandish characters who border on cartoonish, but Bloom is the very real human at the center of it all. He’s the only one that doesn’t seem to lean into Johnson’s open nostalgia for movies like “The Sting,” keeping things even more grounded. “The Brothers Bloom” rules, and it shows that Brody can do much more than just deeply serious period pieces — he can play funny, heartfelt, and sweet, too.