Fantastic Mr. Fox

Voices of: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wallace Wolodarsky, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, Brian Cox, Adrien Brody
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Mr. Fox (George Clooney) lives a quiet life with his wife (Meryl Streep), son (Jason Schwartzman), and nephew (Wallace Wolodarsky). When he resorts to his old thieving ways, his reckless behavior threatens the safety of his entire family.

Review:
Tim: Fantastic Mr. Fox is a beautiful film to watch. The stop motion animation is wonderful, and director Wes Anderson is perfectly suited for this type of movie. It certainly looks unlike anything else out there. The imagery and the look of this film is truly unique, and it was amazing to watch. I loved this aspect of the movie. Unfortunately, like many of Wes Anderson's films, I was ultimately just a bit underwhelmed. I am not trying to suggest that this isn't a good movie- it certainly is. However, I thought there was potential here for true greatness, which this movie does not achieve.

While not great, this is still a good movie, and an enjoyable children's one. Like the best of this genre, it is also wildly appealing to adults. There is a great mix of humor for children and humor for adults, so it really appeals to a wide demographic. The story is mostly well grounded (the pieces based on Roald Dahl's original book), although Anderson definitely expands the story in his own way. I am not entirely sure how I feel about the expanding pieces. I think they work in some ways, but not in others.

As with most of Anderson's films, the cast is pretty extensive. I liked the voice cast here. George Clooney was a great choice for Mr. Fox. I really enjoyed his performance and his unique voice. Meryl Streep was fine as Mrs. Fox, although I wasn't overly impressed with her work her. Jason Schwartzman was a fine choice, and it was good for Anderson to get in some of his regulars. I also liked Bill Murray quite a bit. He and Clooney had a few very good scenes together. Willem Dafoe was an inspired choice, and it is always good to hear Owen Wilson's excellent voice. I didn't even realize Brian Cox and Adrien Brody voiced characters, but apparently they did. All in all, the voice cast gets an "A" in my book.

There are some unique and quirky aspects of this movie that I really enjoyed. Perhaps my favorite aspect was the use of "cuss" in place of actual swear words. So, the characters would say "Where did this cussing fence come from?" or "Get the cuss outta here!" It was actually a brilliant use of language to clearly get the message across, but still keep the film PG. This was brilliant and one of my favorite aspects of the film.

While watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, it soon becomes apparent that this was a short story that was extended for the purposes of making it a feature length movie. While Anderson did a good job adapting the story to the screen, in a few places, it does feel like the story was extended not for purposes of making it better, but only of making it longer. This hurts the film a bit. I thought that the story strayed in a few places, and could have been a bit tighter.

While Fantastic Mr. Fox might not have reached its potential, this is still an original, different movie, and I enjoyed it. Anderson does enough right to appeal to a wide audience, and the voice cast features some inspired casting as well as some Anderson favorites. This isn't a great movie, but it is certainly a good one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Up, The Darjeeling Limited, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums