5. The Brothers Bloom
Rian Johnson is a very talented guy. He wrote and directed a movie in 2005 called Brick, which could have easily been on this list, and then followed it up four years later with The Brothers Bloom. Johnson likes to subvert genre with his movies. In Brick, it was noir, for Brother Bloom, it's the con-man genre. Brothers Bloom stars Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo as the aforementioned Brothers Bloom. Brody gets out of the business, and Ruffalo brings him back for one final job. Along the way, they find intrigue, romance, and danger. But instead of falling into cliche, the film cleverly avoids any missteps with a wonderful comedic tone and visual style. Rachel Weisz sparks the romance of the movie, and is a delight as an eccentric millionaire who collects hobbies. She is a bright ball of energy throughout the film, which helps counter some of the dark avenues the film goes in the third act. The film isn't all smiles and smoothness. There are some surprising things in this movie that shocked me the first time I watched it. Watch The Brothers Bloom, and Brick if you haven't. They both show a promising director who doesn't fall into the traps of many up-and-comers. Johnson knows what he is doing, and people like him deserve to have their work seen.