As a lifelong card-carrying member of Team Zissou, I have to say Fantastic Mr. Fox is my new favorite Wes Anderson movie. What the cuss, you’re probably thinking. Well, cuss yeah! You’ll understand what I’m talking about after you see the movie. It’s my new favorite cuss word replacement, by the way, too. Thanks, Wes.
I know everyone acts like Wes Anderson is the second coming of Scorsese, and it’s true. Scorsese even said so himself. But the real reason why Fantastic Mr. Fox works on so many levels is it truly encompasses the magic of moviemaking. And that’s what movies are and should be all about. It works on so many levels from the sleight-of-hand of the stop-motion process, to the meticulous attention to detail in the tiniest of props and wardrobe pieces (taken from Anderson’s swatches, naturally) and of course, the wit, heart and cast Anderson employs time and time again. If Anderson ever influenced me to direct before, my faith in trying something new has been fully restored and further challenged.
With full access to Roald Dahl’s manuscripts and his English estate, Anderson more than brings Dahl’s imagination to life. He takes it to another level. He even recorded his actors playing in the fields of the English countryside, digging, giggling and interacting in the childlike way we long for but seldom revisit, which is great because when I was in second grade my two favorite things to do were to draw horses in a fictitious countryside with my best friend Anne and read Roald Dahl books, so he has created an environment I’ve always wanted to explore. And it works for adults and children alike. As Anderson told The New Yorker, “I wanted to make a children’s movie like some of the ones I grew up with. And that went with the idea of how you didn’t have to wear helmets when you ride bicycles. I never wore a helmet riding a bicycle, and, in a way, the movie is for children who don’t wear helmets when they ride bicycles.”
Fantastic Mr. Fox keeps you feeling as Royal as Gene Hackman and Ben Stiller’s sons were dangling from the side of a fire truck. And for escapism’s sake, how bad could that really be? I’ve never had a children’s movie make me feel this alive since I was a child.
But wait, I forgot to mention, it’s a heist movie! And don’t all men and boys love a good heist movie, or want to be in a heist? (Good Lord, I just referenced a Dane Cook joke. Please forgive me.) As far as Clooney heist movies are concerned, I dare to say this sinks his previous Ocean-ic exploits. And that’s coming not only from a Life Aquatic expert, but an overall film fanatic. Besides, who better to play a sly, cunning fox than Georgie Boy?
Fantastic Mr. Fox opens in select cities this weekend, and goes wide on Thanksgiving, for all to fête.
