MOVIE OF THE WEEK (11/25/09): FANTASTIC MR. FOX
KEY VOICE CAST MEMBERS: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker
WRITER: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach as adapted from the book by Roald Dahl
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
WEB SITE: www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com
THE PLOT: Inspired (given it's a Wes Anderson movie and I admittedly have NOT read Dahl's book, I can't say "based on" with confidence!), Fox centers around the life of its namesake character (voiced by George Clooney). An affable, essentially carefree fellow, Mr. Fox finds himself - and his wife (voiced by Meryl Streep) - caught in a trap (literally), prompting him to make the following promise: Should they escape, he'll never, ever chase after chickens (or any other animal living at a human's farm) again.
Fast-forward 12 years and domestic life is good, for now living with Mr. and Mrs. Fox is their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and his visiting, impressive nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). But Mr. Fox just can't shake his nature as a "wild animal" as he puts it, leading him to need to fly the coop - or into the ones belonging to farming trio Boggis, Bunce and Bean (Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guinness and Michael Gambon) he promised he'd quit messing with oh so long ago.
Unfortunately for Mr. Fox and all those around him his best laid plans are about to cause a rift above - and below - the surface ...
THE TAKE: If you want a short take on Fox, here it is: This is The Royal Tenenbaums with stop animation puppets, except not nearly as weird and more accessible.
Did you stop reading there? No? Okay, here's a more detailed take on why it's not quite fantastic, Fox is worthwhile of 90 minutes of your time.
Stop motion animation has literally (I gotta quit using that word so much!) been around for years; with Fox, however, Anderson shows the art form still has life (albeit animated) as its use helps enhance the quaint nature of its characters and their seemingly simple existence - which in turn probably serves the quaint nature of Dahl's writing as seen in his other best known works. (That would be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach for those that only read the books that come with their video games or that Oprah recommends.)
Stop motion is a technique that can either reveal a filmmaker's flaws or highlight their strengths; in Anderson's case, it highlights his characters' flaws that, in the end, are the very thing that brings them together in the fashion that has become his trademark quite well. The humor is genuinely funny, not just funny-for-a-dedicated-Anderson-fan-funny (see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited), there are genuine sentimental moments and the story takes twists and turns that are enticing and well-told.
Voice wise, the cast does a solid job in showcasing the bonds among its characters, being whimsical, sarcastic, naive and wise when necessary. While the cast may be big in name, you do not focus on who's voicing the characters (with the possible exception of Willem Dafoe excelling as a notorious rat guard for the farmers); your focus is on the characters, period.
And the way Anderson brings them all together to give cinematic life to Dahl's book is quite entertaining.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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