The Fantastic Mr. Fox B+

In Theatres, Rated PG, 87 minutes
Wes Anderson’s foray into stop-motion animation pays off with his most enjoyable film since Rushmore. Many of Anderson’s trademark items, the 70’s-retro clothing, the onscreen text to label chapters and scenes, the daddy issues and his dynamite cast of players are all here, but for the first time since Owen Wilson left his writing team, his focus on minutiae seems quirky and fun, not myopic. This dispels the notion held by many (myself included) that the style was the problem. Not so. It just so happens that style is served up best in the animated realm where it can be counter-balanced by silliness and where less realism is expected.

Let’s start with the cast. Brilliant. George Clooney is perfect as Mr. Fox—a natural thief domesticated by his love for Mrs. Fox who's now languishing as a columnist for a local animal newspaper. He’s looking for one last score. Meryl Streep continues her crusade to win me over in this understated role as Fox’s spouse. She’s sweet, tough, smart, and a bit sexy, all while playing second fiddle to Clooney. The rest of the team is largely Anderson regulars. Jason Schwartzman is great as Fox’s nerdy, undersized, and unathletic son who’s been supplanted from the final heist for all those reasons by his yoga-practicing, super-athletic cousin played by Anderson’s brother, Eric. Bill Murray is also here along with Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Roman Coppola, and Wes himself.

The plot is straightforward. Fox is looking for some excitement and feels alienated from his true fox self. He’s born to steal livestock, but he’s now a hack writer no one reads. He decides to hit the local trifecta of farmer, chicken farmer, and distiller. When the farmers realize who’s stealing from them, they set out to destroy him, endangering not just the Fox family, but all the wildlife in the area.

The film itself starts at a gallup and doesn’t slow with the fun or the mayham until (predictably) the end of the second act and beginning of the third, where all of Anderson’s films bog down for me. Still, the down time was only ten minutes or so in this one. The look of the stop-motion is refreshing after the blitz of Pixar-perfect images in most of the recent animated work. What’s more, some of the scenes, such as one shot with a backdrop of falling water, are gorgeous. The score is excellent, with many of the characters having a theme song, a la Peter and the Wolf. The songs themselves, and in some ways the feel of the film, owe a significant debt to Disney’s classic animated Robin Hood. Overall, a great time at the movies. B+

*Note to parents: Unlike Wild Things, this one is a kids movie, with most the kids watching it when I was there enjoying it. The only real concern is the language. Instead of saying cuss words, the animals just say "cuss", but some of what they say you'll recognize as being pretty dirty.