Kids will love it, adults will ADORE it!

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2010)

Wes Anderson is my hero. No, really, I mean it! I mean, look back at all the films he's made: all the way from his debut masterpiece "Bottle Rocket", to his elegantly poignant "The Royal Tenenbaums", and even his box-office flop (but critically-acclaimed) "The Darjeeling Limited" and all the others in between. He's a filmmaker that takes dark comedies and takes them to hilariously high and moving levels, and his screen writing (usually teamed with another excellent filmmaker, Noah Baumbach) is among the best that Hollywood can come up with. He's a man who seems not to be able to do a superficial film, and each character he creates has infinite depth and wisdom and seems much more human than any, um, Jerry Bruckheimer could come up with (even though his films ARE good, too).
Whatever. The point is that Wes Anderson has surprised me beyond limits. Here is one of the masters of dramatic, depressing comedies taking a book written by Roald Dahl (one of the most whimsical and best-selling children's' novelist) and making it into a stop-motion animated film for the entire family. Impossible, you say? I used to say that too, but after watching the end result, I can declare that Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" won't disappoint any adult or child this year.
Most of you already know the sinopsis of Dahl's book, but in a nutshell, the film is about Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox and their son Ash who live a somewhat poor but content life in their burrow. Mr. Fox (George Clooney) used to be a chicken thief in his day, but after meeting Mrs. Fox and putting her in danger after discovering she's pregnant, he vows to stop the adrenaline-packed life of a chicken thief and becomes instead a columnist for a newspaper few people read. Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) seems to be okay with this, but Mr. Fox is going through heavy existential problems where his spirit is at unrest and where his animal instincts overpower him. Ash (Jason Schwartzman), their son, is a depressed and sour young fox who begs for society's attention but is usually overlooked or ignored because, let''s face it, he's unimpressive.
Mr. Fox buys a beautiful, large tree from his real estate agent against the legal advice of his Badger attorney (Bill Murray), and it all seems ideal at first, but Mr. Fox is very much aware that his neighbors are none others than Bogis, Bunce and Bean, the three meanest farmers around...and also the wealthiest and the ones who farm and harvest the best chicken, turkeys and apples respectively. His instincts kick in, he begins stealing again, and soon finds himself in a heap-load of trouble. But, as the title of the film aptly highlights the word 'fantastic', this is no ordinary fox! Yes, it's a children's' story, and yes, it's a fable, but as much as it's fantastic and preposterous it's profound and intelligent. Obviously, Anderson has taken the artistic liberty of adapting the story as freely as his imagination (and his PG-restrained rating) will let him. He's omitted a character or two, he's added about seven more, he's stretched the story to include many more plot twists and he's given each character a roundness and a credibility that you'd never imagine seeing in a fox, a badger, a mole, or their likes. As in previous films, Anderson deals with topics such as existentialism, nature vs. nurture, not fitting in, dysfunctional families, excess of envy and, most of all, repressed emotion which will eventually explode in sudden bouts of depressing anger; yeah, definitely NOT topics for children...but how can I put it? Anderson has managed to tone himself down without reducing a smidgen of depth to a point where the film is adequate enough for children and marvelously moving for adults. Tell me, how many other filmmakers can do this? The dialogue is pitch-perfect, as always. The cinematography is grandiose and frames not characters per se, but entire settings; it makes the viewer feel like a voyeur including him or herself into these animals' life instead of simply an audience at a movie theater. Camera positions, cuts and dolleys add comedy to the events going on screen, and the sublimely country-ish score by Alexandre Desplat make this the perfectly-ambienced film.
There are scenes of raw, heart-wrenching emotion: notice a scene where Mr. Fox fights with Rat during their second encounter, or the scene where Mr. Fox gives a toast at a supermarket; these scenes take your breath away and launch your brains into a cataclysm of thoughts and opinions about a wide array of topics. Notice other scenes, like the one where Ash is working at his chemistry school lab or where Ash and his cousin Kristofferson watch a train set in their room; these are incredibly hilarious, and speak of genius in each second of them. I think that, with the obvious superiority of Disney/Pixar's "Up", "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is the second best family film of the year.
See it! And have your children see it too. Films don't get any more rewarding than this! Rating: 4 stars out of 4!!