“The Brothers Grimm” ** (out of four) Terry Gilliam's love affair with disorder continues with another visually interesting disjointed mess - this one about a pair of ghostbusting con artists.

“The Brothers Grimm” imagines Will and Jacob Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) to be a sort of 18th century Scooby gang, the twist being that the brothers orchestrate the hauntings which they later solve for an exorbitant fee. The con has apparently served them well until they are unmasked by two utterly annoying characters: an Italian torturer named Cavaldi (Peter Stormare, nearly sinking the film with criminal overacting) and a French general (Jonathan Pryce, adopting a newly absurd accent in every scene). The plot, such as it is, revolves around the brothers’ attempt to break a genuine spell cast by the Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci).

The magic spells inherent in the plot allow director Terry Gilliam to plaster the screen with his vast imagination (a horse that spits spider webs, walking birch trees). Mr. Gilliam should have used that energy to conjure up a story – or even one character – worth caring about. The actors can’t even agree on a common accent. The film sputters to life with the addition of Lena Headey who appears as a sort of common love interest for the brothers. While she grabs hold of each of her scenes, the film never knows quite what to do with her.

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