Film review: 'The Borrowers'
An enchanting feat of technology and storytelling, "The Borrowers" features a family of 4-inch-tall people and their adventures in the land of giant humans. Based on the novels by Mary Norton, the PolyGram release of a Working Title production is a solid, family-oriented film, and it should fare moderately well at the boxoffice.
The special effects are the star in "The Borrowers", although the witty and inventive screenplay by Gavin Scott and John Kamps comes in a close second, and leads John Goodman and Jim Broadbent are great as the comedy-adventure's bellowing Goliath and peewee David.
Director Peter Hewitt ("Tom and Huck") and crew create a plausible but occasionally exaggerated world that Working Title explored in two series for the BBC. Wonderfully unconventional and creative with everyday objects, the Borrowers are few but proud, not puny criminals but quiet, peace-loving parasites.
The plot is reminiscent of "Mouse Hunt", with Pod Clock (Broadbent) forced to move his wee family when a behemoth banker, Ocious P. Potter (Goodman), evicts the regular-sized family of young Pete (Bradley Pierce). Mom Clock (Celia Imire) and Pod are separated from their two kids, Arrietty (Flora Newbigin) and Peagreen (Tom Felton), when they all hitch a ride with the movers thanks to Pete, who tries to keep their existence a secret.
With many extraordinary sequences -- including several chases, rides on a hot rod in a drainpipe driven by teenage ally Spiller (Raymond Pickard) and the perilous thrills of several close calls in a milk-bottling plant -- "The Borrowers" is nearly always convincing with its 14-to-1 ratio of a normal person to a borrower.
The performances are light and broad, and there are sufficient characterizations to engage older viewers. Like "Mouse Hunt", "Borrowers" has successfully mixed up decades in terms of production design, costumes and props, while overall the film is a visual treat with many memorable surprises.
THE BORROWERS
PolyGram Films
A Working Title Films production
A Peter Hewitt film
Director:Peter Hewitt
Screenwriters:Gavin Scott, John Kamps
Producers:Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Rachel Talalay
Executive producer:Walt DeFaria
Directors of photography:John Fenner, Trevor Brooker
Editor:David Freeman
Production designer:Gemma Jackson
Visual effects supervisor:Peter Chiang
Costume designer:Marie France
Music:Hans Zimmer
Casting:Nina Gold
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ocious P. Potter:John Goodman
Pod Clock:Jim Broadbent
Pete Lender:Bradley Pierce
Homily Clock:Celia Imire
Arrietty Clock:Flora Newbigin
Peagreen Clock:Tom Felton
Spiller:Raymond Pickard
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
The special effects are the star in "The Borrowers", although the witty and inventive screenplay by Gavin Scott and John Kamps comes in a close second, and leads John Goodman and Jim Broadbent are great as the comedy-adventure's bellowing Goliath and peewee David.
Director Peter Hewitt ("Tom and Huck") and crew create a plausible but occasionally exaggerated world that Working Title explored in two series for the BBC. Wonderfully unconventional and creative with everyday objects, the Borrowers are few but proud, not puny criminals but quiet, peace-loving parasites.
The plot is reminiscent of "Mouse Hunt", with Pod Clock (Broadbent) forced to move his wee family when a behemoth banker, Ocious P. Potter (Goodman), evicts the regular-sized family of young Pete (Bradley Pierce). Mom Clock (Celia Imire) and Pod are separated from their two kids, Arrietty (Flora Newbigin) and Peagreen (Tom Felton), when they all hitch a ride with the movers thanks to Pete, who tries to keep their existence a secret.
With many extraordinary sequences -- including several chases, rides on a hot rod in a drainpipe driven by teenage ally Spiller (Raymond Pickard) and the perilous thrills of several close calls in a milk-bottling plant -- "The Borrowers" is nearly always convincing with its 14-to-1 ratio of a normal person to a borrower.
The performances are light and broad, and there are sufficient characterizations to engage older viewers. Like "Mouse Hunt", "Borrowers" has successfully mixed up decades in terms of production design, costumes and props, while overall the film is a visual treat with many memorable surprises.
THE BORROWERS
PolyGram Films
A Working Title Films production
A Peter Hewitt film
Director:Peter Hewitt
Screenwriters:Gavin Scott, John Kamps
Producers:Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Rachel Talalay
Executive producer:Walt DeFaria
Directors of photography:John Fenner, Trevor Brooker
Editor:David Freeman
Production designer:Gemma Jackson
Visual effects supervisor:Peter Chiang
Costume designer:Marie France
Music:Hans Zimmer
Casting:Nina Gold
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ocious P. Potter:John Goodman
Pod Clock:Jim Broadbent
Pete Lender:Bradley Pierce
Homily Clock:Celia Imire
Arrietty Clock:Flora Newbigin
Peagreen Clock:Tom Felton
Spiller:Raymond Pickard
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 2/9/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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