Film REVIEWS
ANIMATION FRANKENWEENIE (PG) 87min ●●●●●
The commodified pseudo-weirdness of Tim Burton has become a bit of a bugbear, even for those who once fell hard for his particular brand of whimsy. Wearying in its repetition of the same Goth-lite tropes, over-reliant on Johnny Depp’s cutesy bug-eyed schtick, and rarely as tight as it needed to be on the level of plot, Burton’s work began to seem tired. However, it also began to make absolutely tons of money – and what happens to a misunderstood outsider if he becomes a screaming success? Well, in this case, he goes back to his roots and remakes one of the early pieces that kickstarted his career, back in 1984. Frankenweenie, originally a live-action short, now becomes a triumph of Burton’s beloved stop- motion animation – though it remains in glorious black and white. Young Victor Frankenstein is devastated by the death of
his pet dog Sparky, but when a forward-thinking science teacher spurs his imagination with regard to the life-giving possibilities of electricity, an ambitious science project comes into being. Burton is of course an inveterate referencer of others’ work, and Frankenweenie is an extreme geek-off when it comes to horror history and the shadier corners of pop culture. (Also, Edward Gorey’s estate should be claiming royalties on some of the character designs here.) But even if you don’t know Hammer from Harryhausen, Frankenweenie is a delight on the level of both plot and visual detail. John August’s script makes gentle points about the acceptance of death and the stimulation of children’s imaginations (the science teacher is ousted from the town by fearful parents, in a clear jab at the censorious US religious right), and the film has an emotional heft that’s been stylised all the way out of many recent Burton works. Visually it’s so smart and inventive and downright beautiful that you want to stand up and cheer. Tim Burton’s imagination? IT’S ALIVE! (Hannah McGill) ■ General release from Wed 17 Oct.
INDIE DRAMA LIBERAL ARTS (12A) 97min ●●●●● DRAMA NOW IS GOOD (12A) 103min ●●●●
DRAMA ON THE ROAD (TBC) 137min ●●●●●
A successful and beloved US sitcom star delves into his soul, and finds there a story of revisiting one’s past, coming to terms with one’s mistakes, and getting it on with a gorgeous, playful, precociously wise young woman. That was how the world got Garden State from Zach Braff in 2004; it’s also the genesis of this second feature by the engaging star of How I Met Your Mother, Josh Radnor. After emerging as a child actress in Man on Fire and War of the Worlds, Dakota Fanning came of age in The Runaways and Now Is Good, Ol Parker’s adaptation of Jenny’s Downham’s novel Before I Die. With short blond hair and a gaunt appearance, Fanning’s transformation into a sickly Brighton girl is the one notable factor in an otherwise annoyingly shallow look at terminal illness.
Liberal Arts is strongly reminiscent of Braff’s film While suffering from leukaemia, Tessa defies
If, for two and a half hours, you can put aside the fact that Walter Salles’ latest work is an adaptation of one of the most famous, influential books in recent American history, you might just enjoy this winding, intimate tale of a group of liberated friends riding across the United States. Jack Kerouac’s book, first published in 1957, documented the antics of a cast of remarkable characters inspired by the beat generation’s leading lights: Sal Paradise is Kerouac himself, Dean Moriarity is Neal Cassady, Carlo Marx is Allen Ginsberg and Old Bull Lee, William Burroughs. Yet for a work that challenged the social norms of the time, this adaptation offers little insight into the wider social context the group existed in.
but is a rather neater, slicker object and a lot of fun to watch in its gentle way. Gentleness, however, is such the keynote that the whole thing feels a little muffled in nicey-niceness. Radnor’s directionless, dishevelled thirtysomething Jesse returns to his alma mater to see a favourite professor; whilst in town he strikes up a friendship with fresh, bookish 19-year-old Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen).
Radnor is terrific company – possessed of fine comic timing and a certain nascent gravitas – and Olsen, the breakout star from Martha Marcy May Marlene, acquits herself well in what could have been a throwaway role. (Hannah McGill) ■ Selected release from Fri 5 Oct.
66 THE LIST 20 Sep–18 Oct 2012
her controlling father (Paddy Considine) and her wayward mother (Olivia Williams) by drawing up her own bucket list of things to do, with the help of co-conspirator Zoey (Kaya Scodelario) and local hunk Adam (Jeremy Irvine).
Parker’s script for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Sadly Garrett Hedlund never quite captures
marked him out as having a feel for sensitively capturing relationships on film, but Now Is Good instead sees him replicating the surface gloss and inner schmaltz of his awful debut Imagine Me and You. With reliable performers like Considine and Williams all at sea, only Fanning deserves any credit. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Wed 19 Sep. the frenetic energy of Dean Moriarty, the story’s enigmatic antihero but what is really missing is the energy and rhythm that so defines the works of the beat generation. What we’re left with is a pleasant story of a group of friends on a road trip, not the captivating, liberating spirit of Kerouac’s classic. (Gail Tolley) ■ General release from Fri 12 Oct.