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Canwest News Service
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Featuring voices of: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker.
G: Violence
Running time: 87 minutes
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Fantastic Mr. Fox is so much fun to watch, you're never quite sure just where the entertainment value is coming from: Is it the result of seeing an entire faux universe rendered in familiar, but teensy, detail? Or is it the giddy pleasure of seeing Roald Dahl's kids' book brought to the screen with Wes Anderson's understated wit?
Both, no doubt, which means no matter how thin the narrative clay gets in this stop-motion animated piece, there's more than enough faux fur to make you purr.
A very simple story of a perfectly predictable ego-driven Fox who just can't stay out of the hen house, Fantastic Mr. Fox opens with Mr. Fox (voice provided by George Clooney) and his wife (Meryl Streep) being penned in a trap.
Apparently, at that time, Mr. Fox made a vow to his true love stating he would abandon his chicken-killing ways once and for all, should they manage to escape the trap intact.
Flash forward several fox years (divisible by six to equal human years), and we're with the Fox family once more, this time, with an added member: Ash, the l'il kit, or as he's called in the movie, a "cub."
Voiced by Jason Schwartzman, Ash is certainly not a chip off the old block and Dad, with his George Clooney vocals and brown corduroy tailored suit, is more than aware of his own kit's shortcomings.
The family seems relatively blissful in their multi-room fox hole, but Mr. Fox has ambitions of living the high life — above ground — in a tree. He craves the adrenalin rush of clipping the chicken wire and breaking a goose neck, or snapping at a squab, or sinking his teeth into a fresh hen.
He promised his lovely vixen he'd never cross the farmyard for thrills ever again, but his ego drive is too strong: He needs his feathery fix, and when his nephew from a neighbouring den stops in for an extended visit, Mr. Fox finds a perfect accomplice in the athletically gifted young pup.
More important, Mr. Fox has found the perfect targets for his next heist: Three industrial farmers and their warehouses packed with chicken flesh and over-proof alcoholic apple cider.
Anderson sets the table for the ensuing drama beautifully as he takes advantage of Clooney's Ocean's Eleven persona as the dashing thief, as well as his own quirky gift for oddball dialogue and warmly absurdist situations.
For instance, there are moments when the lawyer Badger (voiced perfectly — with just the right amount of arrogance — by Bill Murray) and Mr. Fox face off. They do not argue. Instead, they hiss and bare their teeth because they are, after all, wild animals.
Anderson makes the most of the mis-anthropomorphizing and uses the cute forest creatures to highlight the most inhuman human traits. In other words, the animals always emerge more humane, and more intelligent, than the cruel and gloriously evil chicken tycoons — one of whom is voiced by none other than Michael Gambon, a.k.a. Professor Dumbledore, the wise hero of the later Harry Potter movies.
Anderson isn't afraid to push the boundaries of his miniature plaster and wood universe. He refuses to simplify the complex emotional relationships within the film, which brings an adult, Royal Tenenbaum feeling to the Dahl brand of childhood melancholy.
It's an intoxicating mixture, and one that plays to the inherent strengths of both sources — whether it's the West Side Story dance moves of the security rat (voiced by Willem Dafoe), Mr. Fox's whistling trademark (borrowed from Donald Sutherland's Hawkeye in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H), or the sight of stop-motion tears flowing through Mrs. Fox's nose fur.
The movie operates from such a sincere and earnest place, it can't really make a wrong move because it's always heartfelt. It's also consistently funny in that offbeat Anderson way.
Coupled with the endless charm of non-computer generated images and a miniature world fashioned by the finest London maquette experts, Fantastic Mr. Fox isn't just a sweet distraction, it's a visual feast that makes you look twice at pen tops, thimbles and matchsticks — or any other miniature –friendly building material.
A joy from start to finish, the only quibble one might have with Mr. Fox is its resistance to formulaic drama and the lack of contrived moments. As in all Anderson work, the big moments of revelation and personal realization happen without forewarning. Feelings are expressed, and the story moves on. Just like life. Only smaller.
WHAT THE OTHER CRITICS ARE SAYING…
Selected excerpts from reviews of Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Visually, it's a true marvel. Perhaps best of all, it feels like something entirely new. — Sara Vilkomerson, New York Observer
With its clever visual jokes and sassy dialogue, (director Wes) Anderson's first foray into animation doesn't seem to be made entirely with children in mind. Maybe that's why it seems so perfect for them. — Rafer Guzman, Newsday
Endlessly enchanting. — David Edelstein, New York Magazine
Life is full of surprises. The best one I've had in a good while is Fantastic Mr. Fox. — Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Anderson has pulled off the most elusive of goals: He's made a nonchalant masterpiece, a movie that feels dog-eared and loved before it's even reached our hands. — Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Fantastic Mr. Fox, which Mr. Anderson wrote with Noah Baumbach, and which he has been hoping to make for many years, is in some ways his most fully realized and satisfying film. — A.O. Scott, New York Times
After two flops, Anderson is back on terra firma with a well-acted (especially Clooney), sporadically entertaining rendition of Dahl's classic, a retro-cool quirky, if also indulgent, film on which he imposes his unmistakable world view, format and tone. — Emanuel Levy, emanuellevy.com
It's unfortunate that the result is so unaffecting, especially in light of all the things the director does right. — Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Compiled by Canwest News Service
