**** out of ***** The problem with kids films is that so many parents haven't taught their kids not to talk during the movie. The other problem is that you have to sit though previews for movies starring Barney. The last problem is that most of them are terrible, most of them are from Disney, only ones from Disney make money, and only ones that AREN'T from Disney are any good. The Borrowers (for once) takes an English book and keeps most of the actors English, including all the Borrowers. Some of the Beans are American, but the whole setting is ambiguous and the cityscapes are surreal, they'd fit in in a German expressionist film. This film has been advertised as a blatant Home Alone meets Honey I Shrunk the Kids pile of crap, but it isn't. It does tend to focus more on the danger aspect of Borrowing, nearly getting caught, being seen and chased, etc., but that's a good thing. It's more cinematic, less stagy, and more interesting. The sets, costumes, and effects are all great. They start with the illustrations from the book, and get more creative -- a lot of the Borrowers wear clothes made from rubber gloves. The story line is tons of fun, and, though it doesn't bear any relation to the books, it brings in all the best elements from them, and creates some new ones. A Borrower movie without Spiller is not a Borrower movie, and he's also the best actor among the kids. He's the only one who can act against a blue screen. This is the main problem with the film -- it mainly focuses on the children, Arrietty (Flora Newbigin), her brother Peagreen (Tom Felton), Spiller (Raymond Pickard), and a child Bean (Bradley Pierce, Jumanji), all of whom are reasonably good actors, but when seen in an effects shot, big things and small things at once, go really bad really fast. The scenes in which the Bean talks to Arrietty are painful. A pile of great comic actors play the adults, Celia Imrie (In the Bleak Midwinter, and in Star Wars Episode 1) as Homily and Jim Broadbent (Bullets Over Broadway) talking too slowly as Pod, John Goodman as the villain, Mark Williams as an exterminator, and Hugh Laurie as a policeman. Jim Broadbent is normally a very good actor, but I have no idea what he was trying for here -- at times it seems he's talking slowly and clearly to ensure he's understood by the Beans, but he talks that way to his family as well -- sometimes. He looks exactly right -- everyone does. The cast seems to have been assembled more by look than skill, but it works out somehow. Probably because The Borrowers isn't a performance driven film. It's pure entertainment, with a good script that never allows itself to be buried in stupidity like The Indian in the Cupboard did. I was really pleased with the film, it captured the spirit of the books, and was lots of fun to watch. -- http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/8034/ Remove no spam to reply. "Drive carefully but recklessly", Mama, Child's Toy "The only excercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise." Peter O'Toole
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