DVD REVIEW: Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox)

What happens when you mix Wes Anderson, George Clooney, and Roald Dahl? Something wonderful. Fantastic Mr. Fox delivers a poignant story that is well-acted and handmade.




If you've seen any of Wes Anderson's other films, you know what to expect: quirky characters, a fun soundtrack, and a heartfelt story that is funny and sweet without being heavy-handed. This time he's adapting Roald Dahl's children's novel (Anderson and fellow indie scribe Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay). If not for the stop-motion menagerie of forest creatures, I would have thought this was a Wes Anderson film. George Clooney's Mr. Fox reminds me of his work on O Brother, Where Art Thou, as a family man trying to live on the up and up. Felicity, his wife, is beautifully voiced by the multi-talented Meryl Streep. She plays Mrs. Fox as a savvy vixen who just wants her family to be happy and her husband to keep his promise to stop stealing chickens.



Anderson movie staples Bill Murray (Badger), Owen Wilson (Coach Skip), and Jason Schwartzman (Ash Fox) lend their voices to the film. Schwartzman shines as the Foxes' awkward son, who is always living in the shadow of his cousin Kristofferson. Ash is described throughout the film as different. He just wants to be an athlete. I am a huge fan of Schwartzman as an actor, a musician, and now as a fox.



The first thing you notice about this film is its beauty. As a fan of stop motion animation, I am always mesmerized by the painstaking detail and handmade look it entails. In one of the extras on the DVD about the animation, we learn that Wes Anderson took his inspiration from the original King Kong film. So much so, in fact, that Anderson wanted the fur on the creatures to "boil", or move from frame to frame. The humans in the film are beautiful as well, but the most impressive screen presence is with the animals and their underground world. I loved the autumnal color palette Anderson used--it set a warm tone for the film that complemented the story.



As with most animated films, there's an element of adventure, but again, it's very Wes Anderson action. Anderson's action usually begins with a lot of dialogue (see Bottle Rocket or The Royal Tenenbaums). And that makes it better. Sometimes when I watch an animated film, I can appreciate it for what it is (a kids' movie), but the story doesn't really grab me. This film made me laugh, almost made me cry, and made me wish it was a half-hour longer. Like Coraline or Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox had an adult element to it but is totally accessible to the kiddos. I think for younger children it would be more about seeing the cute animals, but for more mature kids (and kids at heart), this is a phenomenal movie experience. One of the things that made me laugh was Anderson's use of the word "cuss" in place of curse words (like "What the cuss was I thinking?" or "Are you cussing with me?").



This film is a definite buy for Anderson's fans, but it would be a bright spot in any film collection. Its depth and handmade look make it one of the best films of 2009 and one of the best animated films I've ever seen.

Stacey Rader
Review Editor