He Really is – Quote, Unquote – Fantastic
OK, I was dubious. An old style animated feature length film of the children’s book by Roald Dahl. How special can that be?
Trust me – it’s special. With George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray bringing the fuzzy puppets to life, you find that you’re inhabiting a very special world somewhere between the human and the animal. Mr. Fox wears a necktie to work, writes a column for a newspaper, but lives in a hole (and after trading up, in a tree) eats like an animal and, well, hunts chickens like a fox.
This is a rare movie where the trailer actually does justice to the film. For insight into how the movie was made, check out Terry Gross’ – am I over using this word – fantastic NPR interview with director Wes Anderson.
The color, smart dialogue, the music – all are really good. The movie may even serve to resurrect the fading – to say the least – fame of the 1960’s group The Bobby Fuller Four.
The kids will love the animals. The rest of us will identify with references to real estate deals, unheeded advice from lawyers, anxious teenagers and a character in mid-life crisis who just happens to be a fox.
I thought it was fantastic.