"The Brothers Grimm" has a great concept. A fictionalized account of the famous authors as charlatans who use superstition to fleece the rubes, but learn that there are dark evil things in the world beyond reason.

"The Brothers Grimm" has a great writer,Ehren Kruger, who wrote the scripts for the US versions of "The Ring", "The Ring 2", and "Skeleton Key". Unfortunately, his horror experience does nothing for this film.

"The Brothers Grimm" also has a good director, Terry Gilliam who is well known for his cinematography in films like "12 Monkeys" and "Brazil". In this film; however, he chose to wash the entire film in grey tones.

No one involved in the film seems to be able to decide if its comedy, a fairy tale, or a horror film. So, it is none of the above. Well, its funny. Funny how bad a film can be.

There are a couple of "surprise the audience" moments, but they are not scary, they are just more of the slapstick that infects the rest of the film. Even the torture seen is peppered with absurd jokes and gags.

The "humor" is definitely the kind of thing you'd expect in a children's film, but there is graphic violence (including dismemberment) which could in no way be considered "child friendly".

Finally, as if to add insult to injury" the film is littered with anachronistic references.

Not even my wife, who loves movies like "Miss Congeniality" and "Legally Blonde", hated "The Brothers Grimm"

I give it a well earned 1 out of 5. I only wish the scale could go lower.