INKHEART (Alliance, 2008) D: Iain Softley, w/ Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett. Rating: NNN DVD package: NN Rating: NNN
Here’s an okay kids’ film that cleverly ties its central fantasy directly to a useful and pointed message about the power and beauty of literature.
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Preteen Meggie (Eliza Bennett) pines for her mysteriously missing mother, while Dad (Brendan Fraser) hunts obsessively through antiquarian bookshops all over Europe. He’s accidentally released some baddies from a novel and needs another copy to send them back. Captures and escapes ensue.
Fraser and Bennett are acceptable but bland leads. Thankfully, they’re surrounded by high-energy comic performances, notably by Helen Mirren as Meggie’s sourpuss great-aunt and head villain Andy Serkis.
The eye-catching sets and handsome Italian landscapes work better theatrically than on the small screen, but director Iain Softley does a good job with the kid-friendly thrills and the two big effects scenes, one of them a witty homage to The Wizard Of Oz.
Three minutes of Eliza Bennett reading from Cornelia Funke’s original novel is it for the extras. I didn’t pine for more.
EXTRAS Eliza Bennett reading. Widescreen. English, French audio and subtitles.