Something for everyone

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2014)

2009 was a great year for animated movies - first the excellent "Up", now this sweet, beautiful, feel-good movie.
Wes Anderson, director of such modern classics as Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore, takes a Roald Dahl novel, and makes a superb movie out of it.
Funny, witty, perfectly-paced, the plot and direction are spot-on. The animation is great and the choice of actors for the voices was inspired. George Clooney as Mr Fox is suave and sophisticated yet impishly naughty. Meryl Streep adds gravitas and motherly concern as Mrs Fox. Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, ever-present in Wes Anderson movies, are perfect for their roles as the kid fox and the wise-cracking badger- lawyer, respectively. Even the minor parts have major names: Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe and Michael Gambon plus Jarvis Cocker (lead-singer of Pulp, in case you didn't know) as the folk-singing sidekick of one of the villains!
All this, and then Wes Anderson's customary perfectly-chosen rocking soundtrack.
It may be animated, but this isn't just for kids - it has something for everyone. A must-see: you won't be disappointed.