Once upon a time, a visionary filmmaker embarked on a grand new project. It would be an imaginative account of the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, whose famous collection of German folklore gave us the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood, among countless others.

In this telling, a freewheeling mix of fact and fancy, the Brothers Grimm travel the countryside coming to the “rescue” of villagers under attack by supernatural forces. In reality, the Brothers are staging these proto-cinematic spectaculars with handmade special effects and a loyal pair of character actors. The awed peasants gratefully fork over their cash.

When the Brothers arrive at the village of Marbaden, however, real irreality intrudes on their charade as they are forced to explore an enchanted forest, combat a bristling werewolf, and unravel the mysteries of an ancient, evil queen.

Conceived as a big, bold adventure film about the nature of storytelling, “The Brothers Grimm” would be a special effects super-production, requiring the construction of vast sets, the expenditure of much money, and the orchestration of a massive crew. Its director, the talented, tempestuous Terry Gilliam, headed off to Prague and got down to work.

But suddenly there leapt forth a fearsome creature known as – Miramax! This infamous beast had its own stubborn agenda, and promptly sunk its fangs into Mr. Gilliam’s brainchild. Or so the story goes.

Born from this age-old conflict between auteur and producer, “The Brothers Grimm” now lumbers into theaters after much rumor and delay. No doubt, it’s one mangled beast of a movie, clearly bearing the scars of compromise, capitulation, petulance, and tinkering. But the myth of the noble artist thwarted by the moneymen may need revision in this case. The problems with “Grimm” lie deeper than the whims of the Brothers Weinstein.

Bad casting, to start. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger star, inappropriately, as Will and Jake Grimm. Mr. Damon, the least cynical of actors, lacks conviction as the jaded opportunist Will. He is imagined to be a ladies’ man, and while I’ll grant Mr. Damon a certain hunky Abercrombie & Fitchitude, seductive he is not. Mr. Ledger is neither Val Kilmer nor Johnny Depp, though here he attempts at various times to be both.

A love triangle is established with a Marbaden trapper named Angelika, whose family is deeply embroiled in the village curse. It has been reported that the role was intended for Samantha Morton, who was replaced at the producer’s demand by the actress Lena Heady. Ms. Heady is more commonly beautiful than the idiosyncratic Ms. Morton, and in every way the more pedestrian thespian.

These three fairly hold their own against the onslaught of special effects, but they hardly make us care about brotherly, or any other sort of love. Then there is Peter Stormare in the role of Cavaldi, a stooge of the Napoleonic army who forces the reluctant Brothers Grimm into their (mis)adventures. Mr. Stormare’s silly turn as a Eurotrash Satan in “Constantine” now looks like masterful minimalism compared to the hysterical scene-chewing he inflicts on “Grimm.”

To be fair, the scenery is awful tasty. The magic forest on the outskirts of Marbaden is a wondrous creation, home to a splendid menagerie of sneaky trees, ominous ravens, decrepit castles, portentous toads, and spooky atmospheric effects. Mr. Gilliam is overly fond of swinging about his super wide-angle lens, but he otherwise brings a sharp eye to the weird textures of his mega-set (the entire forest was built on a soundstage).

Neat stuff writ large will only get you so far, however; Ehren Kruger’s witless, turgid screenplay bogs everything down. We can gripe about the Weinsteins all we want, but at the end of the day Mr. Gilliam said “yes” to a movie penned by the brainiac responsible for “Ring Two” and “The Skeleton Key.” The postmodern conceit is promising, and perfectly suited to the maker of such clever meta-narratives as “Time Bandits,” “Brazil,” and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.” But Mr. Kruger is no Charlie Kaufman. In place of pomo pretzel twists we get a sort of lumpy, half-baked revisionism for dummies.

The heart of the film involves the plot of a vain queen (Monica Bellucci) to regain her youth through an alignment of the full moon with a geometrical arrangement of comatose little girls and the declaiming of beaucoup mumbo-jumbo. What began as a story about storytelling devolves into a banal pastiche of Grimm tales and fantasy-flick cliches, which plays out without a single innovation or surprise.

What To See This Week

“Red Eye” (general release) Wes Craven’s shamelessly entertaining thriller is a classic B-movie straight up, the crackerjack popcorn flick you’ve been hungry for all summer.

“Barry Lyndon” (BAM, 718-636-4100) Stanley Kubrick’s epic, moody take on Thackeray is famous for its candle-lit cinematography and for dividing audiences between those who find it a bloodless bore and those who marvel at its enigmatic evocation of the 18th century. Love it or hate it, it’s something to see, and the only way to do so properly is on the big screen.