Phoebe Lichten (Elle Fanning) is always in trouble. The girl-- a bundle of nervous tics, odd thoughts and behaviours--is a source of constant frustration for her mother (Felicity Huffman) and father (Bill Pullman) and her teachers. Enter drama teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) who casts Phoebe in the lead of the class production of Alice in Wonderland. Seeking counsel from the play's characters, Phoebe is able to navigate her real world much to the chagrin of those who care most.
Phoebe in Wonderland is a peculiar drama that doesn't so much entertain as it does perplex. First time writer/director Daniel Barnz concocts a quirky story about mental illness. His casting is sheer perfection. Elle Fanning is commanding as troubled Phoebe-a girl who wants to be normal, but who's mind won't allow it. She has control beyond years; if she keeps this up she will no longer be Dakota Fanning's sister. As mom Hillary, Felicity Huffman is equal parts frustration and joy. Bill Pullman is understated brilliance. Patricia Clarkson is pitch-perfect as an eccentric drama teacher determined to leave the world a better place.
The film highlights some remarkable creativity. The first thing that struck me was the cinematography. Vivid, but tailored. Each frame is highly detailed, but often oddly captured. I like it. Trading between Phoebe's fantasy realm of the Mad Hatter and her harsh reality of rejection, Barnz is seamless. The film is a series of beautiful contradictions.
As the story unfolds, Barnz stays his camera on Phoebe and without that constant, I think the wheel would fall off towards the end. The tone of the film is altered greatly by what seems to be a quick finish. While I'm glad alls well that ends well, I felt cheated by such a nicely presented solution. The musical number is discomforting.
As I see it, Phoebe in Wonderland is an unexpected delight--in an odd sorta way.
Just for Tom: 3 stars {Don't think you'd really like it as much as I did, Tom.}
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Phoebe in Wonderland (2008)
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Ebert's initial analysis is smart and perceptive (as usual), but his favorable overall conclusions do not seem to logically follow. Was he feeling sympathy for the first-attempt-creator of this earnest but painfully flawed film? That would be understandable.
Yes, the acting was superb. Excellent talent, both young and old, across the board. Yes the look of the film was artistic. But all sympathies aside, let's call a spade a shovel.
The writing was BAD. Very bad. Bad in some very peculiarly irksome ways: Characters with the most annoyingly forced, exaggerated and unlikely attitudes...Darth Vader-esque teachers...a gutlessly inarticulate mockery of a principal...an entire film populated by half-baked characters whose apparent levels of maturity, insight and articulateness fluctuate with wildly unrealistic inconsistency.
Unrealistic, but not "unreal" in any remotely artful, through-the-looking-glass sort of way...just plain "unreal" as in scratch-your-head-unbelievable.
And one, unforgivable sin: This movie even goes so far as to misrepresent Tourette syndrome itself, repeatedly implying that sufferers compulsively self-mutilate. Wrong. Completely wrong. If one is going to create a story around such a well known and oft publicized mental illness, then one might want to take the time to represent the mental illness accurately.
And, yes, the musical number nearing the end was very discomforting indeed. Cringe HERE. And, yes again, the ending...the sudden enlightenment of (everyone) was glib, thoroughly inexplicable and undeserved...not unlike the flow of profanity from a sufferer of Tourette.
The only good thing about Phoebe in Wonderland is that it provided employment to some very talented and deserving actors. Good for them, though not so good for the rest of us.
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