Fantastic Mr. Fox -- Digging for Value

Rating: 5/10 (5 November 2009)

This film piqued my interest for two reasons -- the fact it was based on something by Roald Dahl (known for quirky stories) and the fact that Meryl Streep voiced one of the characters. I realize the second reason was a bit shallow, but the film turned out to be equally so. I had to work to find bits of joy.
The first third or so of the film was very slow. I cannot think of when the last time was that I considered walking out of a film, but the beginning of this one had me contemplating a walk out. Finally, the actual Dahl story kicked in at about that point -- and got a little more interesting.
Overall, the film lacked any real reason for me to care for any of the characters or what happened to them. Mr Fox (George Clooney's voice) was, from the start, self-centered and wanting to prove himself to the world, to be famous, as he admitted several times during the movie. But, he had no real, redeeming qualities. His son, Ash, was equally shallow. Kristofferson (nephew), was created as a too-good-to-be-real child. The evil rat (Willem Dafoe) was delightful, and the single-minded fury of Farmer Bean and his wife was somewhat engaging. However, Mrs Felicity Fox (Meryl Streep's voice) was only mildly intriguing, and while her husband was a less than admirable spouse, her blunt comment to him indicating her regret in marrying him to begin with did nothing to make her endearing.
Finally, there was a poorly coordinated side story - that Mr Fox had a fear of wolves, and in the film's culmination, Mr Fox meets a wolf and they show each other a begrudging respect in an overly long segment. Unfortunately, since the fear of foxes had been largely glossed over during most of the film and truly underdeveloped, this scene falls flat and feels completely out of place.
My favorite take away from the film - besides Bill Murray's voice as Badger (and, to a certain degree, Meryl's voice as an uninteresting Mrs Fox) - was the use of the word 'cuss' by any character wishing to swear. The first couple of times it was used, I pricked my ears in curiosity. But, then there was a whole scene filled with 'cuss' this and 'cuss' that. And, for some reason, I found it quite funny. Likely, the reason I was so easily amused was that I had been waiting, hoping, praying for something, anything, to be funny. So, when this came along, I grasped it with both hands and held on tight.
I have no doubt the studio is well aware the film is teetering, dangerously close to being a royal flop. Which is why it comes as no surprise that they are waiting to open it back home in the States on Thanksgiving weekend -- with the hopes that millions of young children will drag their parents to the film before turkey day festivities or as a break amidst 'Black Friday' shopping sprees. They may be able to recoup some costs this way, and, if they are lucky, audiences will be too mellowed out by tryptophan-induced comas from turkey feasts to notice that this movie seriously underachieves its ability to truly be 'Fantastic.'