Movie Review - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson Directs George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray
Nov 25, 2009 Dominic von Riedemann
While director Wes Anderson's output can hit (The Royal Tenenbaums) or miss (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou), his movies are always entertaining. That streak continues with his latest film Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on Roald Dahl's children's book, which marries Anderson's off-kilter plot and dialogue to charmingly cheap stop-motion animation.
George Clooney, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, Michael Gambon Star in Fantastic Mr. Fox
Mr. Fox (George Clooney) just can't help himself. After many years of restraining his chicken-stealing instincts for his long-suffering wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) and adolescent son Ash (Jason Schwartzman), he starts to relapse after viewing the heavily-guarded fortress farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Vowing to do "one last job," Mr. Fox rips off all three farmers in one night.
However, Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon) has a plan to get revenge on Mr. Fox and his family. Will the farmers succeed, or can Mr. Fox figure out a way to get out of the mess he's created? And will Ash discover what truly makes him special?
Imagine a cross between Ocean's Eleven, The Royal Tenenbaums and Roald Dahl and you're pretty much there. Dahl fans will likely explode at Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach's attempts to stretch out the story, but those who aren't as married to the original book will likely be seduced by the film's charms.
Although Fantastic Mr. Fox struggles in the first 1/3 – chronicling Mr. Fox's attempts to go straight, and Ash's battles with his overachieving cousin Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) – the film achieves lift-off when it gets to the crime-caper stage of the proceedings. Add several dashes of Anderson's signature off-beat wit (a sequence featuring blueberries laced with sleeping powder is brilliant) and the story's a winner. You know you're doing well when you're getting guffaws from a horde of hardened movie critics, and this happened several times during the screening.
George Clooney is in typically fine form as the title character whose skills barely match up with his ego. Streep takes one for the team, muting her usual instincts to play her supporting role as straight woman/conscience to the fast-talking Mr. Fox. Former collaborators like Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Adrien Brody show up in various roles, and listen for cameos from Britpop singer Jarvis Cocker and celebrity chef Mario Batali.
The stop-motion animation looks cheap as hell, but that's the point. You can tell the smoke is just tinted cotton balls and the characters' hair/fur moves too sharply to be real. Far from detracting from the film, it somehow adds to its pleasures, especially the scenes where Felicity Fox achieves a "glow." In an age where digital razzmatazz supersedes story 99% of the time in Hollywood film, Fantastic Mr. Fox's cheaper aesthetic – in service to the plot – is a welcome breath of fresh air.
The Final Analysis on Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox
While Fantastic Mr. Fox may not be the best animated film out there this year (so far, Up has the honours) or even the best off-beat animated film this year (ditto to Coraline), it's certainly a wonderful entry to an already stellar 2009. It's odd, but it's also an oddly charming film with its heart in the right place.
It gets an 8/10.
Fantastic Mr. Fox poster
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