INKHEART (Rated PG)
For a fantasy adventure film, based on the best-selling book by Cornelia Funke, “Inkheart” sends out a most curious message about the danger of reading books aloud to children.
As it happens, if a person happens to be a “Silvertongue,” he or she possesses the powerful ability to bring characters of literature to life when reading aloud. This, of course, can be a scary thing, particularly when reading to a small child.
Even with its PG rating, “Inkheart” may be too dark at times for the younger children who may not fully grasp the fictional nature of unsavory characters brought to life.
The decidedly mixed-blessing of being a “Silvertongue” plagues bookbinder Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser), who discovers his unique talent when reading to his young child.
Fast forward about a decade, and Mo and his 12-year-old daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) are driving through Europe in a VW camper in search of books. For Mo, the search is focused on an elusive copy of “Inkheart,” a book that is filled with illustrations of medieval castles and strange creatures. It so happens that when fictional characters are set loose on the real world, the book claims a real person to disappear into its pages.
The exchange of literary characters for the living explains why Mo’s wife and Meggie’s mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory), has been MIA for roughly nine years. In her place, Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), possessed of a carnival worker’s talent to juggle fire, has been roaming the countryside with his pet weasel.
Through the years that Mo has been hunting for a copy of “Inkheart,” Dustfinger has never been far behind. The fire juggler believes that Mo can read him back home to his family if Mo finds the book. On the other hand, Mo is terrified he may lose another loved one to its pages.
Meanwhile, another escapee from the novel is Capricorn (Andy Serkis), suitably sinister as a character who didn’t have much going for himself in the fictional world, but has figured out how in the real world to amass a fortune and build an evil empire in a remote castle in the Alps.
Capricorn is eager to capture Mo to further his nefarious schemes, but first must send his thugs to locate him at the ornate Italian lakeside villa where Mo’s daffy aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren) lives a reclusive life amidst a huge collection of books.
The clash of the real world with the villains from the printed pages leads to interesting events.
Capricorn has several uses for Mo’s talents as a reader, none of them altruistic. First, he has Mo reading about the hidden treasures of “1,000 Arabian Nights,” and soon it is raining down gold, silver and jewels.
But, something unexpected usually happens, in this case a young boy named Farid (Rafi Gavron) shows up. At first terrified at being transported from an ancient desert cave, Farid soon decides the modern world is more to his liking.
The world of “Inkheart” is populated with an assortment of eccentric, oddball characters, thanks in part to a timid little man named Darius (John Thomson) who was used by Capricorn to conjure up some of the characters.
As a reader, the stuttering Darius was not very effective at speaking Capricorn’s cohorts out of the pages, as mostly evidenced by the lines of writing left scrawled on their faces as they were bounced through the pages. Still, this doesn’t explain Flatnose (Steve Speirs), with a snout five times bigger than Jimmy Durante’s.
With ambitions grander than that of a James Bond master criminal, Capricorn is emboldened when he learns that Meggie has inherited her father’s gift of a “Silvertongue.” So when Mo eludes his grasp, the villain decides to use her to summon up the terrifying force known as the Shadow. Expectedly, this sets up the climactic showdown that takes place in the mountaintop castle, but it is a less than fitting end to what had been an intriguing story about characters transporting to and from different realms.
Nevertheless, “Inkheart” is a fun fantasy adventure that has plenty of magical moments. The result is a pleasing family entertainment, though it may prove too scary for the impressionable very young kids.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
I have always considered the early Woody Allen films, including “Take the Money and Run” and “Bananas,” among my all-time favorite comedies. Then he lost me through a series of semi-serious, or semi-humorous, efforts that never clicked.
In recent years, Woody has redeemed himself, and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is proof that his writing and directing ability still shines.
Using the vibrant energy of Barcelona, Spain, as his canvas, Allen paints a sexually-charged but hilarious portrait of love starring Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” tells the story of a pair of young American women vacationing together in Spain, where they both meet and fall for the same local bohemian painter. The situation becomes increasingly difficult when his tempestuous ex-wife (Cruz) makes her way back into his life.
It’s now being released on DVD, just as Penelope Cruz has been nominated for the Academy Award in the best actress in a supporting role category, following on the heels of the film’s taking of a Golden Globe Award for best comedy.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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