Another gimmick film from the Hollywood corn syrup and french fry factory. Any idea or concept that made the books good was voted out of the film by the committee meeting clones who oversee movie production. All we are left with is swooping camera work to fool us into thinking action is happening, lots of elaborate art design to make us think that money equals quality and crude humor to make us think that the film is "cutting edge".
Feh.
Jim Carrey, to his credit, takes his character to an extreme but is not countered by the child actors who are very bland. In their defense, they are not given much to do or are directed very well. The baby is actually the best of the trio but I tired of the stupid crude subtitles after the third one. Meryl Streep walks through her part. Cedric the Entertainer could have been replaced by the studio janitor for all he given to do. Why is Dustin Hoffman here? The "exciting" finale is so misdone, it's probably the most boring part of the film.
The most applause should be reserved for the uncredited animation team who created the great end credits. This sequence evokes the books better then anything in the film. I would bet take this was originally intended for the opening of the film but someone realized that the audience would be ready to kill when they saw how the live action was going after the promise of the animation.
A much better film in a similar vein is "Matilda".
Feh.
Jim Carrey, to his credit, takes his character to an extreme but is not countered by the child actors who are very bland. In their defense, they are not given much to do or are directed very well. The baby is actually the best of the trio but I tired of the stupid crude subtitles after the third one. Meryl Streep walks through her part. Cedric the Entertainer could have been replaced by the studio janitor for all he given to do. Why is Dustin Hoffman here? The "exciting" finale is so misdone, it's probably the most boring part of the film.
The most applause should be reserved for the uncredited animation team who created the great end credits. This sequence evokes the books better then anything in the film. I would bet take this was originally intended for the opening of the film but someone realized that the audience would be ready to kill when they saw how the live action was going after the promise of the animation.
A much better film in a similar vein is "Matilda".