Phoebe in Wonderland
0
Posted
March 5, 2009 in
Film
Now that Dakota has started making movies that call for miniskirts and booze, we’re lucky that the Fannings thought to give us daughter Elle, a second blonde and brilliant moppet poised to sweep up every kids role in town. Writer-director Daniel Barnz’s movie starts and ends like a psychedelic made-for-TV drama, but with a long and imaginative middle stretch that’s quite good but completely uncertain of its audience. Elle plays Phoebe, a bright kid with an even brighter younger sister (Bailee Madison) who’s able to drop science like “ennui” and 20th century modern political thought before losing a single baby tooth. But Phoebe still soaks up all of parents Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman’s attention because there’s something not quite right with her mind. She’s angry and prone to obsessive compulsive fits that leave her with bloody knuckles and bruised knees. Huffman doesn’t want to label Phoebe with a syndrome or a psychiatrist. In contrast, we feel like we already know what’s wrong, and the big reveal that our diagnosis is off is curiously pedantic and anti-climactic. Still, though Phoebe is nearly too dark for children and nearly too simple for adults—though Huffman has some smart, honest moments describing the worst parts of motherhood—it succeeds as a swirling reminder of what it felt like to get lost in imagination, and when Phoebe enlists in the school play under stern teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), she’s beset upon by hallucinations of Lewis Carroll. And back in reality, Barnz has an expert grasp of the daily horrors and thrills of elementary school with its bullies and geeks like Jamie (Ian Colletti), a young thespian cast as the Red Queen who ran headlong out of the closet before he ever felt its walls. (Amy Nicholson)
Now that Dakota has started making movies that call for miniskirts and booze, we’re lucky that the Fannings thought to give us daughter Elle, a second blonde and brilliant moppet poised to sweep up every kids role in town. Writer-director Daniel Barnz’s movie starts and ends like a psychedelic made-for-TV drama, but with a long and imaginative middle stretch that’s quite good but completely uncertain of its audience. Elle plays Phoebe, a bright kid with an even brighter younger sister (Bailee Madison) who’s able to drop science like “ennui” and 20th century modern political thought before losing a single baby tooth. But Phoebe still soaks up all of parents Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman’s attention because there’s something not quite right with her mind. She’s angry and prone to obsessive compulsive fits that leave her with bloody knuckles and bruised knees. Huffman doesn’t want to label Phoebe with a syndrome or a psychiatrist. In contrast, we feel like we already know what’s wrong, and the big reveal that our diagnosis is off is curiously pedantic and anti-climactic. Still, though Phoebe is nearly too dark for children and nearly too simple for adults—though Huffman has some smart, honest moments describing the worst parts of motherhood—it succeeds as a swirling reminder of what it felt like to get lost in imagination, and when Phoebe enlists in the school play under stern teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), she’s beset upon by hallucinations of Lewis Carroll. And back in reality, Barnz has an expert grasp of the daily horrors and thrills of elementary school with its bullies and geeks like Jamie (Ian Colletti), a young thespian cast as the Red Queen who ran headlong out of the closet before he ever felt its walls. (Amy Nicholson)
