If there was ever a combination to make the cinematic juices of desire flow, it would surely be Terry Gilliam’s take on The Brothers Grimm. That or Elisha Cuthbert takes on Sarah Michelle-Gellar in a special nude edition of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

However, while the latter remains just a depraved fantasy of, er, a good friend, the former is with us this week.

And what a disappointment it turns out to be. It starts with a good basic idea but rapidly descends into misjudged, unfunny farce.

The Brothers (played in bizarrely English-accented style by Matt Damon, who’s okay, and Heath Ledger, who’s awful) are con artists. They travel the villages of Germany telling tall tales of witches and beasties which they then agree to capture, for a price.

It’s lucrative work but, one day, the Brothers fall foul of a French general (played by Jonathan Pryce at his hammiest) and get sent to a village where little girls really do keep disappearing, due to something mysterious in the forest...

Gilliam throws everything in his extensive arsenal at the screen, but very little sticks.

There are references to fairytales throughout and some of them - such as the Red Riding Hood-style abduction of one village daughter, and the unsettling, unstoppable Gingerbread Man - are great. A lot of things however fall flat on their fabled arses.

Ledger, for example, cannot do comedy. Jonathan Pryce’s French accent is excruciating. Peter Stormare - who pops up as Pryce’s right-hand man - bounces around with a “comedy” Italian accent and doesn’t elicit a single titter.

The odd scenes where things come together only highlight the weaknesses elsewhere. Once upon a time, Gilliam would have knocked this subject matter for six. Now, his style feels like bargain basement Tim Burton while his “humorous” take on fairytales comes a poor second to Shrek.

You’ll be glad when it’s over but, sadly, not for any “happy ever after” themed reason.