NOMINATIONS:
82nd Annual Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score
SYNOPSIS:
Visionary director Wes Anderson's first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best selling children's book by Roald Dahl (author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach"). Mr. and Mrs. Fox (George Clooney and Meryl Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost. Also featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker.
REVIEW:
In Wes Anderson's case, his visual repetition has become an irresistible thumbprint, and one of the great moviegoing joys I've encountered in recent years is the opportunity to watch this supremely gifted filmmaker use his leather-bound imagination to impart varying stories of eccentric outsiders and their enduring emotional wounds, with each film connected by exotic aesthetic degrees of detail-oriented splendor. Now Anderson takes his cinematic language to the hand-woven field of stop-motion animation for FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and, yet again, the filmmaker shapes a breathtaking cinematic marvel; he finds a magnificent home nestled firmly in the luxurious textures of the animation, the dancing vocal performances, and delicious wry tone that makes for stunningly fanciful cinema.
Taking a day job as a newspaper columnist to support his wife Felicity (voiced by Meryl Streep) and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman), Mr. Fox (George Clooney) has grown tired of suppressing his animal instincts. Planning to infiltrate the chicken and cider farms of the feared Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (Michael Gambon), Mr. Fox and opossum partner Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky) spring into action, finding the thrill of the steal irresistible. When the heavily armed Bean vows revenge on Mr. Fox, the gruff farmer tears the countryside apart looking for his sly enemy. Digging into the ground, Mr. Fox drags the locals into the fight, leaving the wolf-fearing hero responsible for the community, pushing him to come up with a plan to outwit the unrelentingly combative humans.
Clooney's spirited voice work pulls FANTASTI in a few unexpected directions, humorously teetering between Mr. Fox's domesticated leadership skills and his feral nature, typically unleashed around food and domestic containment. Anderson's stocked the rest of the roles with a dynamic range of vocal personalities, with Streep offering a velvety counterpoint to Clooney's gravely enthusiasm, and Schwartzman and Anderson enjoying the battle of popularity and Whack-Bat skills as the disgruntled child and his more Zen relative. Anderson's even called in a few favors from old friends (Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Brian Cox also appear) to help personalize the piece. filmjerk.com
