A Great Cussing Film

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2019)

Anderson's overall approach to filmmaking can be a little bit artificial. His live action stuff is often too self-conscious and twee for its own good. Yet in animation this slightly stilted quality of tone and excessive concern with details really fits. This is one of the few films of his that I have found myself swept up in. It is a crackerjack of a film that has all the components of a hit for families. It has plenty of adult humor that is sure to go over kids' heads; it has some fairly adult themes about dealing with a midlife crisis. Above all the film has a great, great sense of moment, space and visual scope. The animation is wonderful. And it is just so Anderson.
Fans of the Dahl book might be annoyed. The adaptation is fairly loose. The film expands both the beginning and the end of the tale. Further, the tone of the story doesn't quite have the subversive edge that Dahl's work does. I read the book as a kid and this isn't quite what I thought the film would be. Anderson's personality comes through more than Dahl's.
Clooney is really engaging as Mr. Fox. This was good fit between director, source material and lead actor.
And I love the cussing in the film!