Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox is the quirkiest of the quirky projects that George Clooney gets involved in every year about this time. Usually he’s shooting for an Oscar but this seems more like a pet project – pun intended since it features a host of animated creatures. Joining his voice are those of Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe and Owen Wilson with Clooney playing Mr Fox who abandons his chicken coup raiding days when his mate lets him know that they are in the family way. Fourteen dog years later (a cute reference at first but annoying after the umpteenth time) and Mr Fox is in a rut with his newspaper job. When new digs don’t perk him up he decides to get the adrenalin flowing with a final three pronged raid against the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Unfortunately his little caper puts the whole of the local vermin population in jeopardy when the wily farmers stop at nothing to strike back. Then it’s time to see how fantastically foxy Mr Fox really is and even though he talks a good game he doesn’t seem up to the task. Based on the best-selling children's book by Roald Dahl this jumbled and flat film at least has the retro look that the director was shooting for, done with the painstaking stop action animation that is somewhat uplifted by the subtle inflections delivered from its excellent cast.