Brendan Fraser is Mortimer Folchart, a book collector, fixer, hunter, you name it. He also possesses a special ability, something that few people have, and I have to believe fewer actually want. Mo (as he is called) is a Silvertongue. This means that whatever he reads aloud becomes reality. For example, read about the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz and they will spring from the pages and become manifest in the real world. To say this ability has caused some problems would be an understatement.
The film is not as easily setup as I had just described it. It is accurate, but the film takes a little longer to get going, making the early goings a little confusing as I tried to place all the events and people into the correct place. Once it gets going, it is a pretty straightforward affair.
The central conflict has Mo seeking to get his wife back, Dustfinger wanting to go home, and Capricorn liking it here and wanting more book help to be provided by the Silvertongue. All of this is accompanied by nice use of effects to show the combining of the fantasy book world with the real world.
The performances are mostly fine. As they are at the mercy of the screenplay, I find it hard to blame them for the feature's shortcomings. Brendan Fraser is not that bad of an actor, although he seems to be forever stuck in these family adventure films. No, not necessarily a bad thing but I feel it holds him back from showing what he can do. Helen Mirren is entertaining as the quirky reclusive aunt who joins them on their adventure. Eliza Hope Bennett turns in serviceable work as Meggie, Mo and Resa's daughter. Then there is Gollum himself, Andy Serkis hamming it up as our villain, giving evil a smiling face.
Direction from Iain Softley is solid if unspectacular. He sets the story up and lets it go with little visual flair to stand it apart from other similar films. The main issues fall on David Lindsay-Abaire, whose screenplay does a fine job of telling the story, but when it comes to character they just are not there. I could not find a good reason to really care about them as they moved through the tale. Sure, they had a definite and admirable goal, but all they did was march towards it, there was little supporting material to fully drag me in.
Still, it is not a complete failure. I loved the focus put on the power of books and their ability to take us to faraway lands and introduce us to interesting people. It almost makes me wish I had time to read more often than I do. There is something magical about books ability to fuel an imagination and it is something that seems to be on a downward slide in these days of technological advancement.
Bottomline. Not great, not terrible. Inkheart is serviceable fantasy-spiced adventure with a good supporting cast performance and a positive message in favor of reading. If only the script took the next step, this could have been really special.
Mildly Recommended.
1 comments:
i completely agree with you. the book does give more details of who is character is and makes you connect with the, but the movie is missing that connection. i believe it could of been a better film.
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