SNMR 7.19: "Inkheart"

GREEN'S "DUCT TAPE... I LOVE DUCT TAPE" REVIEW:

A couple of months ago I watched this movie with my kids. I recently watched it again in order to write this review.

Mortimer Folchart is a rare person sometimes referred to as a Silvertongue. They are people with the gift (or curse) that when they read out loud, the characters from the stories come to life and out of their world into ours. The problem is someone from our world is sucked into the story world. Mo is an old book doctor who restores old books, in part so he can look for a certain book and find his wife who disappeared nine years ago. Now Mo must get help from other characters in the story in order to defeat Capricorn and his gang, as well as the author himself.

Andy Serkis is wonderfully wicked as the evil Capricorn. Young Eliza Bennett shows excellent promise for the future as daughter Meggie Folchart. The rest of the cast, including Brendan Frasier as Silvertongue, Paul Bettany as Dustfinger and Helen Mirren as are good but not great. Director Iain Softley is adequate as director here, a bit of a letdown from his previous directorial effort.

Apparently the children's book of the same name, by Cornelia Funke, is immeasurably better. I have it but have not read it yet. The film seems to be missing something that I can't readily identify that would have made this a much better movie. Maybe if they made movies out of the other two books in the trilogy they would be collectively better as a whole.

It's not the best movie you'll ever see, but it's not the worst either.

**½ out of *****

Inkheart (2008, PG, 106 minutes), starring Brendan Frasier, Eliza Bennett, Andy Serkis, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Rafi Gavron. Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire and based on the novel by Cornelia Funke. Directed by Iain Softley.