The Brothers Grimm

Another must see movie, if you like fantasy or fairy tales.

The movie starts with the brothers as children. Jacob is sent to sell the cow in order to get the money to afford the doctor that will (hopefully) save his dying little sister. Well, he comes home with magic beans instead, and Will implies that the death of their sister is Jacob's fault.

Skip ahead 15 years...

The brothers are still working together. They travel from village to village pretending to be able to protect the townspeople from enchanted creatures and witches. As it turns out, they are nothing more than talented con artists. After yet another successful caper, they are celebrating their victory over the witch when they are suddenly arrested by an Italian torturer. He brings them to his French General where they are offered the chance to redeem themselves by investigating the REAL disappearance of 10 young girls. They soon discover that they are in over their heads when they encounter a real magical curse, and time is running out as more little girls are going missing with Cavaldi and the General breathing down their necks, they must act quickly.

A fun addition to the action and story is the many references to fairytales throughout the movie; though, not exactly as we know them:

• Jacob sells the cow for magic beans (Jack and the Beanstalk).
• The brothers are forced to scrub the barracks, dressed as maids (Cinderella), and all the kidnapped girls magically end up with a pair of glass slippers on their feet.
• All the girls' fingers are pricked after they've fallen into a deep sleep, and only a kiss of true love will break the spell (Sleeping Beauty).
• A crazy old woman tries to give Cavaldi a red apple (Snow White).
• A great big ugly frog is kissed (The Frog Prince)
• While celebrating, a drunk Jacob tells a story about a time they had to guess the name of a gnome (Rumpelstiltskin).
• The queen is seen to have been sleeping on a great pile of mattresses (Princes and the Pea).
• The queen lives in a tower with no doorways, and has extremely long hair by the time Jacob finds her (Rapunzel).
• One of the girls to disappear was wearing a hooded red cloak (Little Red Riding Hood), plus another girl speaks to a horse with "What big ears you have, what big eyes you have..." just before disappearing.
• A brother and sister wander into the woods, Hans and Greta, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind them as they go (Hansel & Gretel).
• There's a mud blob that emerges from the well to steal another girl (he mimics The Gingerbread Man).

There are probably more references that I've missed
Despite all the fairytale material, this movie is not for young children. It is rated PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material.