TORONTO - It's official. Rachel Weisz is funny. As the guileless heiress "hobby collector" in Rian Johnson's new film "The Brothers Bloom," Weisz ditches the dramas that have become her lot since her Oscar win for "The Constant Gardener." In their stead she delivers a breezy bit of screen time that's as kooky and fabulous as the skills she honed for this bamboozling romp.
"I'm usually more goofy at home, not at work," Weisz quipped before journalists at the Toronto International Film Festival. "I got to be very silly this time around and it was great. The instant I read Rian's script I thought Penelope was one of the funniest female characters I've ever come across."
The film features two life-long grifters (Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo) who make her their mark upon this wild re-imagining of the ancient tale of "Ulysses."
"It sounds pretentious and crazy. But I wanted to see if you can have an emotional pay off in a con-man movie," says "Brick" director Johnson.
Indeed you can.
Left with nothing more than their wits to survive, the orphaned Bloom brothers go from one foster home to another, devising double-crosses so wondrously complex that they ease their loneliness. But they begin to lose track of where real life ends and the con begins.
Eventually everything that really counts in life to them -- love, friendship, loyalty and one's very own identity -- becomes a big fat lie.
Embarking on one last grand scam before they part ways, the globe-trotting swindlers target an eccentric, lonely -- and very rich -- girl. That's when the doe-eyed Weisz steals the brothers' thunder and the movie.
Weisz conquers this caper
"I collect hobbies" is how Penelope introduces herself to Brody's Bloom after he weasels his way into her sprawling mansion. What follows next is a crazy, machine-gun-like montage showcasing Weisz juggling chain saws, knocking off back flips, playing the banjo, skateboarding, break-dancing and doing sly card tricks.
"I actually did the card tricks myself and the butt you see in one scene is really mine," she laughs. "I had to weeks to learn how to play piano, do karate, play Ping-Pong, unicycle... It was like being in a gypsy circus."
Suddenly the girl with a thousand talents stirs Bloom's heart just as he moves hers. That's when the real adventure begins. Tossing her lot in with the brothers, Penelope and team embark on transatlantic smuggling caper that almost leaves half of Eastern Europe in rubble. But the oddball romance and thieving hijinks along the way are a total blast.
"It's so easy to see Penelope as this nut living up in this mansion developing this weird skill set. But she's also a very mysterious person," says Weisz.
Soon after Bloom insinuates himself into her home, Penelope tells the absurd but tragic tale about her life.
"The way she decides to see her life and the things that have happened to her as not bad is really beautiful," says Weisz."She doesn't pity herself. She's a survivor."
If Weisz nabs a second Oscar for this blithe performance it will come as no surprise. "It's what every actor hopes will happen never thinking that it really will," says Weisz, who currently displays Oscar number one in her bathroom.
"It's in the private bath, not the loo for the guests," laughs Weisz, who shares her home with two-year-old son Henry and director Darren Aronofsky. "I'm English you see. To put it out for everyone to see would be like showing off."
