Phoebe in Wonderland (Theatrical Release Packaging) [Import]

Wow. I put this on at 2 am thinking it was a kids movie that I could watch as I drifted to sleep. I was very wrong. Instead, it's a complex, deep, insightful masterpiece that made me cry two or three times.

Don't be fooled by the cover. This is not a movie for children. The story focuses on a free-willed family with writer/scholar parents, and very bright young daughters. The lightheartedness slowly gives way to a deep heartfelt story of a young girl developing OCD and Tourettes while just trying to keep her lead in the school play of Alice in Wonderland. Her drama teacher, played by Patricia Clarkson, is a quiet, Nanny McPhee-type who is able to connect to Phoebe a little bit better than everyone else. I almost got annoyed with that, since it is rather cliche, but it's really Phoebe's mom (the brilliant Felicity Huffman) who connects with Phoebe the most. You'll laugh one moment and cry the next as you take this journey with such an endearing and interesting family. Phoebe befriends a young boy named Jamie who has a lot more theater experience than she does, and wants nothing more than to play not the White Knight, nor the King of Hearts, but rather the Queen of Hearts. This decision leads the other children to call him "homo" and "faggot", which results in the usually wisely reserved Miss Dodger (Clarkson) showing the only anger she shows in the film when she confronts them and challenges their mimicry. Maybe I am mistaken...maybe some older children should be exposed to this film. Not only will they learn how to imagine, but they will also learn how to tolerate differences, and to love a person for who he or she is, despite wanting to go against gender roles and play the Queen of Hearts, or having to wash her hands a certain number of times.

If I am not mistaken, this is Elle Fannings first lead role, and man does she do an amazing job. She's already begun to surpass her sister when it comes to acting chops. I can't wait to see where she goes.

This movie is very hard to rate. First off, the trailer I saw completely misrepresented this movie, making it seem like it was a cheerful, light-hearted movie about a young girl who is offbeat, imaginative, and misunderstood. Going into the movie with this expectation threw me off because the movie is not this at all, but it takes a while to reveal what it really is about. Meanwhile, I kept wondering when the lighthearted part was going to start. It is not lighthearted. It is a very serious movie about ...

BEGIN SPOILER

... a young girl, Phoebe, who is developing Tourrette syndrome with some associated OCD behavior. (As an aside, the Tourrette syndrome behavior pictured in this movie is pretty accurate.) She knows something is wrong but she just can't help saying and doing the things she is doing that are causing so much disruption in everyone's lives. Her mother is in denial about the severity of the problem and also blames herself for Phoebe's behavior, thinking she just hasn't been a "good enough" mother.

It doesn't help that Phoebe's been attending a school that is more about rigidity and mindlessly following the rules than it is about preserving the natural creativity all children have before they enter public school. A new drama teacher, played brilliantly by Patricia Clarkson, brings some wisdom into Phoebe's life, but ultimately there is no real happy ending. (There are hints that the teacher has a mild form of Tourrettes herself.) Phoebe has the disease, she isn't going to get better (though she might be able to manage her symptoms with medication), and that's that.

Also, Phoebe sees and talks with characters from Alice in Wonderland. That is never fully explained. Is it her imagination? Is it a different mental symptom? We never find out, though the movie seems to be leaning toward it being part of her Tourrette syndrome.

Some loose ends with her parents are left untied as well.

END SPOILER

BUT. The acting is incredible, especially from Elle Fanning. The writing and cinematography are excellent. The pacing is a bit uneven, but overall fine. The story itself is perhaps one that needs to be told. But the movie is sad. It is a drama. It has real people behaving in real ways, for the most part, and that is also on the plus side, but it was hard to watch all the way through because it became clear that Phoebe was a train wreck happening in front of our eyes and there was nothing that was going to happen to prevent that wreck. The only positive thing is that people finally acknowledge the train has wrecked and decide to cope with it.

So, overall, five stars for the acting and the script, one star for the misleading trailer, three stars for the pacing...it averages out to three stars total. maybe three and a half.

This is not a family film. I would not have young children watch this. Teenagers and above, yes. But be prepared to talk about it and to ask some of the questions that are only hinted at.

The hype of this film prior to me even getting it in the store was higher than I had anticipated and I am actually having to order twice as many now. After playing it for screening audiences, word of mouth is making the demand even greater.

The Amazon editorial delves plenty deep into all of the characteristics and relationships being played in this film and to what adequacy the acting appeared. I was thoroughly impressed with how everyone filled their roles to where both kids and adults would get something out of this. The visuals of fantasy and reality blurring together were done believably, and the resulting outlooks left with the viewer about adults in a kids world were moving and well written.

Pullman was useless in the film as a father, but he played it perfect, as did Huffman in another obscure mother character role. Fanning proves she has a bright future with how she convinced both kids and adults what she was feeling and seeing in both worlds. The quality of the picture was adequate, and would be a solid case for HD with all of the colors used. The 5.1 gets used more often than one would think for a dialogue and fantasy film, but they stopped short with no special features of any kind.

The two cover art DVDs are exactly the same except for the picture, no content or feature differences (both 100 minutes). For parents that are wondering about the rating, the PG13 does exist due to several gay themed words being used and a couple cuss words. Hope you enjoy.