Movie Review: Inkheart
Warner/Alliance Film Stars Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis
Jan 22, 2009
Given how inimical Hollywood can be to literary works and writers, it's always refreshing to see a movie that celebrates reading. Inkheart is a charming romp through a world where the real and the fantastical mix and mingle. Director Iain Softley (Backbeat) and scripter David Lindsay-Abaire (Robots) are clearly trying to be faithful to Cornelia Funke's bestselling novel, and they create a world that isn't flawless, but seems like a lot of fun to play in.
What's Inkheart About?
Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) discovered the hard way that he's a Silvertongue: someone who, by simply reading aloud from a book, can bring the characters on the page to life. However, for one person who gets taken out of a book, one must go in. That's how Mo loses his wife Resa (Sienna Guillory) when he reads from the children's book Inkheart, a story within the actual story (yes, it's all a bit meta).
In an exchange that's not quite satisfactorily explained, Resa ends up in Inkheart's world, while the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis), his knife-wielding henchman Basta (Jamie Foreman) and the juggler Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) land in ours.
While Dustfinger longs to return to the book and his wife (real-life spouse Jennifer Connelly makes a cameo), Capricorn likes this world just fine. Setting up shop in an Italian castle, he gathers his minions and seeks another Silvertongue, one who can conjure up his most fearsome ally: the menacing Shadow, created from the ashes of Capricorn's slain enemies. And he has a Silvertongue in mind: Mo's 12-year-old daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett).
The actors bring a lot to this film. Serkis (Lord of the Rings, Tintin) gleefully chews the scenery in a role that – for once – doesn't require him to wear a blue suit with Ping Pong balls stitched to it, while Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent enjoy their respective roles as an upright dowager aunt and a befuddled author who's shocked at seeing his creations come to life.
Brendan Fraser somehow unearths the dramatic chops he showed in 1991's underrated School Ties. Eliza Bennett plays her role well, but it's never explained why she has a British accent and her father doesn't (minor oops there).
Director Softley and scripter Lindsay-Abaire enjoy throwing in references to countless books from Peter Pan to A Thousand and One Arabian Nights (L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz has a particular significance for the story). Given the sheer joy and imagination unfolding, it's easy to forgive the occasional plot mis-steps that sometimes trip up the flow.
The Final Analysis
Inkheart isn't anywhere close to being perfect. Things fall apart in the final act, with the CGI getting a bit silly and all the loose ends all too carefully knotted up. But it's an enjoyable romp with its heart in the right place. Inkheart gets a 7/10.
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