I liked it the first time, loved it the second

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2010)

Utterly odd and unique in the best way. Sweet, funny, breezy stop motion animation film based on the Roald Dahl novel. It's always delightful, and very well voice-acted by the likes of George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon.
A fox/father decides to settle down, stop stealing chickens and become a respectable newspaperman, but hitting a mid life crisis the part of him that longs to steal birds can't be denied one last big heist, which leads to ever more dire (and funnier) consequences.
I liked the film on first viewing, but found I loved it on the second. First, for film fans, or fans of Anderson's work, it's hysterical how he has translated his personal style, both visual and character, to animation. This looks and feels like his other films in a way that is by itself an absolute crack-up. But more important it turns out that Anderson and Dahl are a great mix, with Dahl's great imagination taking Anderson's cock-eyed view of life, and expanding it to a broader canvas. In the end, while populated by puppet animals, this is as human, touching and funny as almost anything Anderson has done. It may be too sophisticated for little kids, but any child advanced enough to enjoy Dahl's books (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.) should have a grand old time, along with their parents.