The Bottom Line: A Grimm Ending Awaits Matt and Heath

How Grimm things are for Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. In Terry Gilliam‘s The Brothers Grimm, Damon and Ledger giddily play fictionized versions of the siblings famous for weaving the fairy tales that enchanted us as kids. Coming from the warped mind behind Time Bandits and Brazil, this twisted but hilarious Monty Python-equese farce presents the Grimms as lowlifes who con villagers into thinking monsters are about to attack. For a fee, the Grimms “vanquish” the creatures and save the day. But the Grimms soon come face to face with a witch who is very, very real … Unlike Shrek, The Brothers Grimm is not a fractured fairy tale suitable for youngsters. That’s evident the moment love interest Lena Headey skins a rabbit. Gilliam‘s also a fairly acquired taste whose visually stunning comic fantasies thrill his fans but no one else. And Dimension doesn’t seem to have much faith in Gilliam. On the shelf for more than one year, The Brothers Grimm opens one weekend before the summer movie season concludes. True, Dimension scored with Jet Li‘s Hero this time last year, but usually films are dumped in late August for the sake of making a quick buck. For Damon, that means his streak of consecutive $100 million hits ends with 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy and Ocean’s Twelve.

	Matt Damon’s Greatest Hits
1. Saving Private Ryan  $216.5M   2. Ocean’s Eleven    $188.4M   3. The Bourne Supremacy  $176.2 M
Matt Damon’s Greatest Misses
1. All the Pretty Horses   $15.5M   2. The Legend of Bagger Vance    $30.9M   3. Stuck on You  $33.8M

Ledger‘s endured nothing but flops since 2002. So even if The Brothers Grimm grosses half of its $75 million budget, that’s still more than the combined totals for The Four Feathers, The Order, Ned Kelly and Lords of Dogtown. Ledger‘s not come too far since his hunky turn in 10 Things I Hate About You led to talk that he could be Australia’s next big thing and his casting as Mel Gibson‘s willful son in The Patriot. He saddled up again for A Knight’s Tale, but audiences didn’t fall hard enough for this medieval Rocky or its musical anachronisms to justify a return of his blandly heroic jouster. After holding his own against Billy Bob Thornton in Monster’s Ball, Ledger made one poor decision after another. He reunited with A Knight’s Tale director Brian Helgeland and co-stars Mark Addy and Shannyn Sossamon for The Order. Bad move. And then came the unwatchable historical epics The Four Feathers and Ned Kelly. The Brothers Grimm marks Ledger‘s second attempt this year to reverse his flagging fortunes. He’s already stumbled with Lords of Dogtown. Few paid much attention to his attempt to channel Val Kilmer‘s Jim Morrison as stoned surfer Skip Engblom. But Ledger‘s wisely placed his trust in three directors of distinction. Even if Gilliam‘s The Brothers Grimm dies a swift death, Ledger‘s still a hoot as the jittery but ultimately brave storyteller. He romances Jake Gyllenhaal in Ang Lee’s western Brokeback Mountain (Dec. 9). If this is more The Wedding Banquet than Ride With the Devil, then Brokeback Mountain should gallop into the sun as an art house smash.

	Health Ledger’s Greatest Hits
1. The Patriot  $113.3M   2. A Knight’s Tale    $56.5M   3. 10 Things I Hate About You  $38.1M
Heath Ledger’s Greatest Misses
1. Ned Kelly   $598,645   2. The Order    $4.2M   3. Lords of Dogtown  $4.9M

Once done smooching Gyllenhaal, Ledger woos the ladies in Lasse Hallström’s Casanova (Dec. 25). If Hallström’s keeps things fun and sexy, Casanova could be a crowdpleaser like Chocolat and The Cider House Rules. If anyone can give Ledger hope of returning to favor, it’s Damon. Damon and Ben Affleck shot to fame after winning their Oscars for writing Good Will Hunting. Damon had the edge over Affleck. A better actor, Damon immediately scored with Saving Private Ryan and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Then everything fell apart in 2000 with The Legend of Bagger Vance and All the Pretty Horses. Meanwhile, Affleck flexed his muscles and hit it big with Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Changing Lanes, The Sum of All Fears and Daredevil. Then Damon lucked into Ocean’s Eleven by replacing Mark Wahlberg, and he transformed himself into a action hero as Jason Bourne. Damon wasn’t an obvious choice to play the on-the-run spy. But he showed he could handle himself in the fight, ensuring the troubled Bourne Identity became a unexpected blockbuster. Yes, he followed up The Bourne Identity with Gerry and Stuck On You–he can’t do comedy unless he’s working with Dogma‘s Kevin Smith–but bounced back with The Bourne Supremacy and Ocean’s Twelve. Ironically, as Affleck faces the fallout from his failed romance with Jennifer Lopez, Damon‘s career is on the rise and is featured prominently in three likely future hits. He reunites with George Clooney for the thriller Syriana (Nov. 23), plays cat-and-mouse games with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed (2006), and portrays CIA agent James Wilson in the Robert De Niro-directed The Good Shepherd (2006). And it won’t be long before he issues The Bourne Ultimatum.

	Patience and perversance pays off. Just ask Damon, a survivor of two disasterous period pieces . It’s a lesson Ledger must take to heart after The Four Feathers and Ned Kelly. But like Damon, Ledger receives a free pass if The Brothers Grimm flops. The burden rest solely on Gilliam. That said, Ledger needs Brokeback Mountain and Casanova to strike gold. If not, Ledger‘s chances of enjoying a Damon-like fairy tale comeback will prove harder than ever to accomplish.